Under
the auspices of the Honourable Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah, Minister for
Health Ministry of Health, Ghana
16 17 APRIL 2007 LA PALM ROYAL
BEACH HOTEL
CONFERENCE CENTRE
ORGANIZERS REPORT 1st GBC Corporate Africa Partnerships for Prevention & CureGHANA HEALTH CONFERENCE A COMMON STRATEGY\1/An initiative to produce a common private sector Health Strategy for the West Africa region involving Government, the public and private sectors and other stakeholders has been set in motion.
\2/
More than 200 people attended the first GBC Corporate Africa Partnerships for Prevention & Cure Conference held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana on 16 and 17 April 2007.
Amongst them were delegates, representatives from the private sector, intergovernmental agencies, the diplomatic corp. developmental health agencies, NGOs,
Government and international stakeholders.
\3/
The conference was organized by Corporate Africa and was sponsored by BD, the GBC (Global Business Coalition Against HIV AIDS, TB and Malaria) Novo Nordisk, Alcan,
Barclays Bank and Liverpool Tropical Hospital.
\4/
The objective of the conference was to set in motion Private Public Sector Partnerships to increase advocacy of prevention against infectious diseases, HIV, TB and Malaria:
Also to increase awareness of Diabetes in Africa and to gain political support from Government and international investors.
\5/
The conference hosted a national program promoting stakeholders prevention and care programs in Ghana, information about accessing Global Fund,
Government policies and objectives, and corporate national and regional prevention and care investments and programs \6/
Several Resolutions were passed at the conference which were: i) that a film be produced advocating prevention against HIV and TB and non-discrimination against sufferers ii) that the film be translated into all local languages and broadcast nationally in partnerships with local TV stations iii) that The GBC Corporate Africa Partnerships for Prevention & Cure health conference be held in Ghana biannually iv) that a (Jubilee) Committee be established in Ghana to become a permanent base for the advocacy of prevention programs across Ghana and West Africa.
It was anticipated that in the event of future conferences the main sponsor and the local GBC would oversee the work of the Jubilee Committee until the next event.
\7/The profit from the proceeds of the conference US$15,000 was paid back to the National Health Ministry, the Director of Public Planning to implement the resolutions and to finance the film
\8/
The general feedback from delegates and visitors at the event is that the conference was a major success and a good beginning upon which future events could be built.
Some benefits issuing from the event according to visitors included:
a) First class Network Opportunity b) Opportunities to access key stakeholders and their programs c) Access to international Investors and their technologies d) An opportunity to access the national advocates promoting HIV, TB and Malaria in one venue at the same time e) Acquiring new awareness and knowledge especially from the seminar on the second afternoon
The conference exceeded the expectations of the organizers. What was planned to be a seminar to introduce the main sponsors diagnostics and testing services
mushroomed into a medium sized conference with delegates arriving from more than 10 countries: UK, France, South Africa, Denmark, Nigeria, Guinea,
Cote dIvoire, Kenya, Germany, Senegal, Guinea and Ghana.
Overall in terms of outcomes, the participants resolved that PPPs were the future of prevention and care and to devise new opportunities by building on existing
expertise and networks and by coordinating current communication efforts to collectively promote a common vision for prevention and care of infectious diseases in West Africa.
On the downside the air conditioning in the countrys premier conference venue failed to work in the lobby area on the first day and provided less than adequate cool on the second day.
This was the case despite numerous complaints to the venues management
Some of the speeches
exceeded attention spans which was a consequence of the initial format of the
program
Activists .. .12
CEOs . ... 14
Country Managers. .. . .. 38
Business Managers . . . .17
Diplomats . . 2
Doctors. .. . . . 27
Directors . . ..30
Ministers . .. ...1
Senior Managers . .. 23
Professors . .. 2
Regional Directors. .. .. 2
Reverend Ministers. .. . 7
Journalists. .. ... 22
Others .. ...17
Multilateral Association . .16
National Agencies .. 25
NGOs. .. . . .. 26
Private Sector. . 45
Public Sector Health 34
Public Sector Other ... ... . .. 29
Government .. . 4
Investors. . 35
Ghana. .. .. 178
UK. 9
France. 3
Nigeria. 6
Denmark. . 4
Germany. . 2
Kenya. . 1
Ivory Coast ... 1
South Africa .. 4
Guinea 2
USA 2
Senegal ... 2
Possible ways to do this are to better implement and evaluate
appropriate outreach strategies (such as the mobile units) with new equipment,
create best practices through a laboratory of excellence, and
partnerships with various sectors.
Malaria is one of the main focuses of the Ministry of Health
and will receive substantial support from the Global Fund (round 7). The
private sector will learn from the leadership and best practices of Anglo Gold Ashanti and benefit from the technical
and financial support from the Global Fund to develop their own initiatives
which include extension into the
surrounding communities.
GBC is engaged to support this partnership by including a private sector
member to increase the level of health for those implicated with Cocoa Board
and promote this program as a best practice in Western Africa.
Diabetes
could be implicated in occupational health strategies of local companies
through prevention programs. It is
important to develop public-private partnerships with local governments to
address questions of infrastructure and training of appropriate people so
people living with diabetes may have access to treatment.
Key local industries could include SMEs in
their PPP strategies, such as the mining or agricultural sectors. Possible
ways to move forward these strategies is to include suppliers and distributors
(supply chain) into their workplace programs
22 April 2007
Corporate Africa