Points of entry 1st defence
MBABANE - As many countries’ health systems are facing a challenge due to ongoing public health threats like COVID-19, polio, measles, and monkeypox, points of entry personnel are equipped to strengthen their capacities to prevent and respond to public health events.
The point of entry personnel and stakeholders on Monday gathered at a workshop which was officially opened by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, where some member States were physically represented, while some were attending virtually. Member States who were physically present were Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Eswatini.
The workshop started yesterday and will end on Friday.
When delivering her remarks, Nkosi said points of entry served as a first line of defence to prevent international spread of diseases. She said experience from COVID-19 had reminded nations once again that health threats respect no boundaries and that they were (nations) living in a globalised world, hence coordination and collaboration within and between countries was key in preventing the spread of diseases across borders.
Nkosi said the International Health Regulations 2005 outlined the importance of building capacities to prevent, detect and respond to any public health event of international concern, including capacities for surveillance and response at points of entry, while avoiding unnecessary interference on international traffic and trade.
Support
The minister stated that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) support came at the right time when the country (Eswatini) had identified gaps through the joint external evaluation exercise that was conducted in 2018 for 19 technical areas including at points of entry.
She said in that exercise, the points of entry thematic area performed poorly in both routine capacities and capacities to respond to public health emergencies of international concern.
Nkosi said in 2019, the country then developed and costed a National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) to address the gaps identified in order to strengthen capacities at points of entry. “I am sure our neighbouring countries can attest to this broad gap, hence the benefit of pooling our efforts together to respond to this gap,” said Nkosi.
She said currently member states and the world at large’s health security has been challenged due to ongoing public health threats like polio, measles, and monkeypox to name a few.
She said these diseases had a potential of spreading across borders, thus the need to prioritise activities for cross-border information sharing, surveillance, and coordination.
The minister further emphasised the importance of building capacities for surveillance including community-based surveillance systems and also establishing communication channels between local, regional, national, and international public health surveillance systems.
She said cross-border counterparts were key allies throughout all phases of a public health response whether routine or during emergencies of international concern, hence the need to establish parameters to guide communication across borders.
Nkosi said her ministry appreciated CDC, in partnership with Health Systems Trust (HST) for providing technical and financial support in the strengthening of border health systems in the country and the Southern African region at large.
Furthermore, Nkosi said appreciation was afforded to the World Health Organisation (WHO) which has also played a significant role in supporting points of entry activities.
Nkosi added that her ministry remained committed to ensuring effective and efficient implementation of the IHR core capacities at all points of entry and to maintain strong partnerships with neighbouring member States.
“The ministry further urges all of you as different member States to work together in achieving the same goal; that is global health security,” said the minister.
Meanwhile, Jeanne M. Maloney, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Eswatini reiterated that recent history had confirmed that infectious diseases do not respect borders.
Patterns
Maloney said the complex movement patterns in border communities and among mobile populations presented challenges for identifying infected or exposed travellers and for facilitating appropriate public health management strategies to mitigate the international spread of disease.
She said limitations in public health surveillance and differences in point-of-entry policies and procedures further complicated the management of public health threats.
The ambassador said as seen at different points in the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, including countries in the Southern African region, opted to close their borders to travellers. “Although this approach may have mitigated the importation of cases, at country level and globally, border closures have had a significant negative impact on the movement of essential goods and services, including vital humanitarian aid needed to combat the pandemic, and, consequently, on health and economic systems,” said Maloney.
She added that this was particularly devastating for the SADC region where the livelihoods of millions of individuals rely on trade and tourism.