AFRICAN JOURNAL OF FOOD & NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES
(AJFNS)
online version ISSN 1681 - 9608
Volume 2 No. 2

The West African Health Organization (WAHO), covering the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)* , has been born out of the fusion of two prior regional health structures, and nutrition has been adopted as one of the pillars of its programs. This is the result many years of investment from a number of partners and member countries to put nutrition at the center of the development agenda in West Africa. The ECOWAS region covers a population of over 230 million - over one fourth of all of Africa, and countries with three working languages, English, French and Portuguese. The most recent Assembly of Health Ministers of WAHO, held in Bamako in November 2000, adopted nutrition as one of the pillars of the organization, and voted a budget line to support future nutrition focal point meetings and nutrition programs. At the summit of Heads of State of ECOWAS in Bamako in December 2000, a "health fair" was organized, including an exhibit on nutrition in the region.

Since 1995, USAID through the SARA, SANA and BASICS projects, has been supporting organization of annual meetings of nutrition focal points of the nine French-speaking countries of West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo). Over the years, the number of partners involved in supporting these focal points meetings has grown, as has the role of the focal points themselves. The nutrition focal points are the head nutrition authorities of their countries. These countries had been organized in the regional health structure called the Organisation de Coordination et de Cooperation pour la Lutte Contre les Grandes Endemies (OCCGE - Organization for Coordination and Cooperation for Control for Endemic Diseases). The OCCGE specialized centre, the Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition Research (French acronym CRAN), has taken the lead on organizing these meetings.

A decision by ECOWAS in 1987 and the 1993 evision of the ECOWAS treaty called for the fusion of regional health structures, which included the OCCGE and the West African Health Community (WAHC - covering Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia) to create the West African Health Organization. Nutrition took a leadership role in successful implementation of this fusion. The nutrition community took the lead in organizing the first ECOWAS-wide nutrition meeting in Niamey, Niger, September 20-24, 1999 the first concrete activity to put the WAHO directives into application. The Prime Minister of Nigeropened the session and the closing ceremony was presided by the Niger Minister of Public Health. All the major stakeholders in future decisions about WAHO were present, including the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary of the OCCGE, the Director of CRAN and the Executive Director of WAHC. Recommendations included calling on the leaders of ECOWAS to include nutrition as a priority in the future WAHO.

This momentum was continued in the fifth focal points meeting, held in Bamako, Mali, September 25-29, 2000. The meeting included over 100 participants and was opened by the Minister of Health from Mali. A delegation from the conference held an audience with the Prime Minister of Mali to discuss the importance of nutrition in the development of the region, and the future of the focal points network. In 2000, Mali held the positions of president of the OCCGE and president of the ECOWAS and the Prime Minister assured the delegation of Mali's commitment to improving nutrition in Mali and the region.

WAHO's commitment to nutrition is rapidly being demonstrated. The first meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers of WAHO (the board of directors of the organization) adopted the nutrition focal points recommendations; including the organization of the next focal point meeting in Ghana in September 2001 and placing nutrition as one of the pillars of the organization's regional initiatives. In addition, they voted a budget containing a line item to support the next focal point meeting and other nutrition activities in the region.

In order to garner increased political support for regional health and nutrition initiatives, WAHO organized a "health fair" for the ECOWAS summit of Heads of State organized in Bamako in December 2000, and one of the major exhibits was a nutrition stand, organized by Helen Keller International and a number of other partners. The stand drew a number of comments and questions from the visiting Heads of State and their delegations.

WAHO+ is based in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, at the former headquarters of the OCCGE. The former Executive Director of WAHC, Dr. Kabba T. Joiner, is the Director General, and Prof. Moussa A. Maïga, is the Deputy Director General.

The successful fusion of prior structures into the West African Health Organization represents a major opportunity for increasing the visibility of nutrition programs throughout the region. The nutrition focal points meetings have proven invaluable in exchanging lessons learned, providing technical updates and lobbying for nutrition programs. The WAHO, working under the direction of the regional political structure, ECOWAS, will provide a means to ensure high-level political participation in nutrition initiatives. ECOWAS has already issued a directive on iodization of salt for human consumption in the region and has organized synchronized National Immunization Days (NIDs), launched by the President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré, who is the current President of ECOWAS. Vitamin A distribution was indeed in this NIDs in many countries.

The family of partners supporting the nutrition focal points meetings has grown over the years and now includes a number of USAID-funded projects (MOST, BASICS II, SARA, SANA and LINKAGES), UNICEF, the Micronutrient Initiative, the World Health Organization and Helen Keller International.

For more information, contact:
Shawn K. Baker, Regional Director for Africa, Helen Keller International, keller@intnet.ne
Mathias Hien, former Deputy Secretary General, OCCGE, mnhien@yahoo.fr
Mohamed Ag Bendech, Country Representative, Helen Keller International, Burkina Faso
André Ouédraogo, Regional Nutrition Advisor, WHO, Harare (formerly Director of CRAN)
Alfred Acakpo, Deputy Director, CRAN

January 15, 2001

*The ECOWAS includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Mauritania was originally a member but withrew in 1999.

+ The address is:
WAHO Headquarters/OOAS Siège
01 BP 153
Bobo-Dioulasso 01
Burkina Faso
e-mail wahooas@fasonet.bf
Tel. (226) 97.57.72/97.57.75
Fax (226) 97.57.72

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