RUNDU – Health officials from Kavango West and Kavango East, along with their counterparts from Cuando Cubango in Angola, gathered at Rundu on Monday for a three-day meeting to discuss strategies for strengthening cross-border collaboration to effectively control infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS.

The meeting, which ends today, aims to share cross-border best-practices and experiences, and identify key challenges to propose solutions, said Maria Mpasi, a health programme officer from Kavango West.

“We are also going to review the status of the implementation of recommendations made by both countries during the cross-border meeting last year in Angola. We will draft a joint plan for 2024/25 for further collaboration to strengthen cross-border surveillance and communication,” said chairperson of the Kavango West Regional Council, Joseph Sivaku. 

He continued that points of entry play a vital role in containing the spread of infectious diseases.
“Many of our entry points do not have the necessary tools for screening travellers or patients, or have holding or quarantine rooms for this purpose,” he said. 

Thus, it is the duty of both governments to ensure that entry points are equipped with the necessary tools and infrastructure.

Sivaku stated that the statistics of confirmed malaria cases in the Kavango West Region during the period of June 2023 to June 2024 stand at 1 352. Of these, 470 are Angolans.

The chairperson called on the participants to deliberate on key issues, and come up with tangible recommendations that will transform the recommendations into workable action points.

The meeting will discuss issues such as the epidemiological situation in both countries, border security, causes of cross-border violations, and the risk of illegal migration of people to infection-contaminated areas.

-Nampa