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African health and environment ministers, at the
weekend in Angola, agreed to advocate for and monitor an allocation of
15% of government budgets to the health sector, as stated in the 2001
Abuja Declaration by African heads of states.

The two-day meeting in Luanda, Angola, with the
adoption of the Luanda Commitment, which outlines the continent’s
health and environment priorities and commits countries to take actions
to address them, also agreed on accelerating the implementation of the
Libreville Declaration and a substantial increase of allocations of
government budgets to the environment sector.

“The Luanda Conference is a milestone, as the health
and environment sectors become credible and strategic partners. I leave
this meeting further convinced that the future of Africa is not cast
anywhere. It is we who determine this by our commitments, our
determination, and our actions,” the regional director and
Representative of UNEP in Africa, Mounkaila Goumandakoye, said.

The meeting, which was the second Inter-Ministerial
Conference on Health and Environment, was held at the initiative of the
World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the government of Angola.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the
meeting, which was also attended by Nigeria delegates, the priorities
listed in the Luanda Commitment include “provision of safe drinking
water; provision of sanitation and hygiene services; management of
environmental and health risks related to climate change; sustainable
management of forests and wetlands; management of water, soil, and air
pollution; as well as biodiversity conservation.

“Other priorities are vector control and management
of chemicals, particularly pesticides and wastes; food safety and
security, including the management of genetically-modified organisms in
food production; children’s health and women’s environmental health;
health in the workplace; and the management of natural and
human-induced disasters.”

Breaking grounds

Following its agreement that a proper implementation
will have the right impact on the attainment of MDG goals 4, 5, 6 and 7
relating to child health, maternal health, communicable diseases, and
environmental sustainability, the ministers resolved to complete the
Situation Analyses and Needs Assessment (SANA) in all African countries
and the preparation of National Plans of Joint Action by the end of
2012.

So far, SANA has been completed in 17 African
countries. The ministers also established the Health and Environment
Strategic Alliance (HESA), which they said is “a novel mechanism that
will stimulate policies and investments in favour of enhanced joint
actions for health and environment in Africa.”

Also, for the first time, African ministers of health
and environment made their strongest pronouncement ever on climate
change and health in the region, with the adoption of a Joint Statement
on Climate Change and Health, which will be tabled before the ongoing
16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico.

“The three tools that we have adopted at this conference are clear
and consistent, and the decisions we have taken will serve us well in
the implementation of the Libreville Declaration,” the WHO regional
director for Africa, Luis Sambo, said.