Two bodies collaborate to check spread of diseases through air travel

The health and air transport sectors in Africa are working together to reduce the spread of diseases through air travel.

The objective is to help make agencies in the air transport industry proactive in detecting, preventing and responding to health risks that may spread from one part of the world to another.

The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the opening session of a four-day regional training of trainers programme on Public Health Events Management in the Air Transport industry at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region on Monday.

Participating countries

The workshop is being attended by 50 participants from 17 African countries, including Ghana, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya Rwanda and South Africa.

The participants, who are of different backgrounds, are expected to return to their respective countries to train others involved in the management of public health events in the air transport sector.

It is being organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Dr Agyemang-Manu described the programme as timely and entreated all participants to take advantage of it to improve the implementation of international health regulations (IHR) in their respective countries.

“There is every reason to believe that this training will spark a chain of events to ensure that international health security is assured at our various airports,” he noted.

Health emergency contingency

The Deputy Minister of Aviation, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said the IHR required that all state parties implemented public health emergency contingency plans at the points of entry to prevent the spread of diseases across countries.

“Ghana is a party to the IHR, as well as the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and has since been committed to their implementation. The country’s significant success during the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa is a testimony to our commitment in aviation health related issues,” he stated.

Mr Darko-Mensah said improving health and safety in the aviation sector was, therefore, in the best interests of all governments, airport operators, airlines and all stakeholders in the aviation industry, adding that the successful health and safety practices in the sector should be based on collaboration and goodwill.

Aviation industry

Touching on the government’s effort to improve the aviation industry, he said, the government was working with the private sector to establish Ghana as an aviation hub in West Africa and position the country as the preferred destination of choice for travellers.

 On the impact of the aviation industry, he said, in Africa, air transport supported 6.8 million jobs and contributed $72.5 billion of GDP, adding that while the world was growing at five per cent, Africa was growing at six per cent, while Ghana’s growth was on average 7.9 per cent per annum.

Importance of training session

The WHO Country Representative, Dr Owen Kaluwa, said the training programme was important because, “in today’s interconnected world where diseases can spread more quickly and easily across borders than ever before, this is indeed a timely and imperative training.”

He said the overall objectives of the Public Health Events Management in Air Transport was to assist the airport health authorities to respond in a consistent manner to events and to make decisions on interventions that commensurate with the risks while avoiding unnecessary interferences with international traffic and trade.