Strategic plan for epidemiological monitoring underway

A five-day multidisciplinary workshop is underway in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), with the aim of elaborating a strategic plan for countrywide epidemiological monitoring (Plan Strategique de Surveillance Epidemiologique en RCA). "Apart from technical elements, we need ideas from other sectors," Dr Louis Namboua, Public Health Director in the CAR Health Ministry, told IRIN on Wednesday. "This workshop will define the responsibilities of each institution, propose a budget, and fix objectives to be achieved," Namboua said. He added that the workshop was recommended by an assessment mission carried out by World Health Organisation (WHO) consultants in April 2002. The workshop will specify the contribution expected from the government and the support needed from donors and partners. "First, we will select the domains which will be under the government's responsibility, and then we will propose those we cannot afford to donors and partners like WHO and UNICEF," said Namboua, who cited malaria, tuberculosis, respiratory infections and diarrhoeic diseases among those severely affecting CAR. The workshop, which was opened on Tuesday by CAR Health Minister Joseph Kalite and which is to conclude on Saturday, is being attended by 40 participants, including medical doctors, sociologists, lawyers, journalists, and laboratory assistants, who are working together with a consultant from WHO.