29 Aug 2023

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus has hailed former President Dr Festus Mogae for his contribution to health and peace in the continent.

Dr Ghebreyesus who was speaking at a cocktail dinner organised for delegates attending the ongoing WHO Regional Committee for Africa (RC73) Summit on Monday, said that he had known Dr Mogae  for many years since the time he (Ghebreyesus) was Minister of Health in his home country, Ethiopia.

He said among significant and positive impacting assignments that Dr Mogae was engaged in, two of them stood out as per his judgement.
One of them, he said was his contribution to revitalisation of the Global Fund.

He said the fund was faced with some challenges and a taskforce to investigate the problems was setup, of which Dr Mogae was a member.

He said the taskforce carried out investigations which led to some recommendations and ultimately Global Fund was revitalised and continued with its work of supporting the world.

“This is so because of former President Dr Mogae’s guidance and others,” he said.

Furthermore, Dr Ghebreyesus said he worked closely with Dr Mogae on many other issues, praising him for his leadership skills in bringing peace to South-Sudan.

“He was chairing the committee assigned to mitigate for peace in South-Sudan and at that time I was the foreign minister. Of course it took some time but eventually peace was restored in South-Sudan,” he said. The WHO director general stated that Dr Mogae’s legacy would not only be recognised locally, but in the global space.

“You are a special one. What Africa needs now are leaders like you, humble leaders. By the way, also in the hands of President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, Botswana is lucky,” he said.

Dr Ghebreyesus also applauded Botswana for having grown from an aid-supported state to a developed country with a good primary health care.

Dr Ghebreyesus said Botswana had proven that everything was possible in Africa.

The year 2023 also marks the 75th anniversary of WHO, a significant year for the organisation as well as global health, he said.

Dr Ghebreyesus said the COVID-19 pandemic reminded all that health was a human right. He said challenges in the health system across the globe had proven that in order to win, team spirit was vital.

As such, he commended Botswana and other WHO member states for working together towards health of all.

Meanwhile, WHO Director for the Africa Region, Dr Matshidiso Moeti said WHO was committed to improving the health of African people hence she called on all to work together for it to succeed.

Despite underlying challenges, Dr Moeti was confident that working together would bring solutions.

For his part, Minister of Health Dr Edwin Dikoloti said health issues affecting African countries were more or less similar and therefore the gathering of RC73 was an opportunity to share experiences.

Dr Dikoloti said through WHO, countries around the world had made strides in developing their respective health structures.

He said the African region had invested heavily on health care infrastructure and on health care issues among them managing issues relating to HIV and AIDS, other communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases and recently the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Dikoloti said Botswana was grateful and as such applauded WHO for its remarkable success in tackling health issues across the globe. ENDS