ANGOLA’S HEALTH AUTHORITIES PRAISE THE USG'S RESPONSE THROUGH THE PRESIDENT’S MALARIA INITIATIVE

Recently discharged Minister of Health speakes as the Deputy Chief of Mission, Francisco Fernandez, looks on.

On December 20th, 2006, US Embassy in Luanda, Angola held a press conference at its facilities in support of the White House Malaria Summit that took place in Washington D.C. on December 14th, 2006.  the press conference was co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and featured the Minister of Health veloso as the key-note speaker. The aim of the conference was to relay the messages of the White House Summit and present to the public the public-private anti-malaria coalition that is assisting the GRA's efforts in combating the disease in Angola.  The Embassy also used the press conference to outline the PMI's contributions to the GRA's anti-malaria campaign and to publicly introduce the two PMI-funded technical consultants hired to assist the GRA.

The press conference began with a presentation by Dr. Filomeno Fortes, the Director of Angola's National Malaria Control Program, and by Dr. Francisco Saute, one of the two PMI technical advisors. The presentation provided an assessment of the malaria situation inthe country and control strategies in place, followed by a brief overview of PMI activities since the launch of the program in Angola in early 2006 as well as the proposed operational plan for the second year.  Dr. Fortes, who had attended the White House Summit a week earlier, also gave a first-hand account of the Summit and reiterated the messages that came out of it.

After this initial presentation, the press conference featured a series of speakers meant to highlight the partnership that the PMI has engendered.  These speakers included the Charg, GRA Minister of Health Sebastiao Veloso, acting UN Resident Coordinator Ndongo Mba, and Esso's Health Manager Dr. Ana Margarida Seitas Ferreira. Also in attendance were implementing partners from the Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Control Program, the Provincial Government of Luanda, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, and NGOs.

The Charg outlined the aim of the PMI in Angola and the rest of Africa, and summarized the positive results achieved since the launch of the PMI in early 2006 in Angola.  He also stressed the need for strengthening and expanding the existing public-private partnerships and called upon the gathered members of the media to use their media outlets to continuously raise awareness and mobilize the public against the deadly decease.

The Minister of Health praised the USG's response through the PMI and stressed that this initiative is the way forward to controlling malaria, and one day, eradicating it from the face of the earth.  He also thanked Esso Angola, the UN, and various implementing NGOs for their valuable support.  In closing, the minister reaffirmed his ministry's commitment to work with all partners and urged the National Malaria Control Program to make the best possible use of the collective support to achieve the GRA's objective of controlling and eradicating the disease from Angola.

The Esso Angola representative outlined the scope of her firm's efforts in fighting various diseases in general and malaria in particular for the past six years.  She reaffirmed Esso's commitment to the anti-malaria partnership and announced her firm's plan to contribute an additional $10 million to support the fight against malaria in Africa in 2007, a part of which is destined for Angola. (The ExxonMobil Foundation put a $1 million check in the mail for PMI in Angola.  This is in addition to the $1 Million it contributed in FY 2006.)

The acting Resident UN Coordinator emphasized the strength of the existing partnership and thanked the Bush administration and the American people for giving priority and generous support to fighting malaria throughout sub-Saharan Africa.  He added that the UN shares the goals of the governments of the US and Angola and pointed to his organization's years of experience and deep expertise that is being effectively used towards that end.

Following the presentation by the panelists, the 20-plus journalists in attendance asked several questions and received information about the malaria situation in Angola and the collective efforts underway to eradicate the decease.  One journalist asked the Charg "why the US was anyways concerned about malaria in Africa in general and Angola in particular?" to which the Charg answered that the US seeks to help build a stable and prosperous world in part by effectively combating diseases such as malaria that contribute to poverty and hinder development. He also stated that the US' desire to help fight malaria stems in part from the fact that it has successfully eradicated the disease and seeks to help countries modify the lessons learned to help eradicate the disease. After the conclusion of the conference, the Charg hosted a reception for the attendees where the interactions between the journalists, panelists and other attendees continued in an informal setting. 

The press conference and resulting q and a session were widely covered by print, radio and television news shows for a week after the event.

US Embassy learned of the NBA nothing-but-nets program during the webcast of the Malaria Summit.  Building on an already programmed NBA activity, post contacted nothing but nets and as a result a stop in Angola was added to the nothing-but-nets program already in place for Africa later this month.  We look forward to expanding Angola's participation in this program and the expanded NBA visit planned for Jan. 28-Feb. 2.