Africa's health regulators meet in Kenya to boost capacity to combat pandemics

NAIROBI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Africa's health regulators on Thursday kicked off a three-day meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to review ways to boost their capacity to combat pandemics.

The conference brought together medical profession regulators and associations from more than 30 countries across Africa with a view to strengthening the continent's health systems.

Simon Nemutandani, president of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa, said in his opening remarks that patient safety requires robust and effective regulation that expands access to quality health care.

"Africa's medical regulators need to create relevant and fit-for-purpose effective health systems that can respond to evolving health care delivery systems as well as the emergence of pandemics and catastrophic climate or weather events," Nemutandani said.

He added that at a time when the world has been recently gripped by COVID-19, one of the most significant pandemics in history, governments should increase investments in both health personnel and medical infrastructure.

David Kariuki, chief executive officer and registrar of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, said Kenya has already developed rapid assessment and licensing procedures for health facilities to operate as quarantine or treatment centers in case of the emergence of pandemics.

Kariuki noted that medical regulators should learn from their collective experience and seek new strategies to prepare for an ever-changing world where more pandemics and other threats are likely to occur.