"Karibu  tena  Mstahiki  Meya  wetu wa  Coventry"says  Ustadha

Madrasatul  Aqsa  team  led  by  Ust  Ally  Khamis   and  Mr  Yakoob  Mohammed   having  a  chat  with Coventry  councillor Singh  and  Dr  Shehu of  Muslim Forum  coventry

African Union Commissioner Meets with the President of the Republic of Liberia H.E Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia

Monrovia, Liberia –6 October 2014: The African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs H. E. Dr. Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, accompanied by the Head of Mission of the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) Dr Julius Oketta and AU Representatives to Liberia and Sierra Leone Ambassador Harrison Solaja, on Saturday 4 October 2014 briefed the President of the Republic of Liberia H.E Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on the African Union interventions in the fight against Ebola. The Commissioner told the President that his visit was to support the implementation of various decisions of the African Union that led to the deployment of a team of health experts to Liberia with the aim of complementing the efforts of the Government of Liberia and other partners in the fight against Ebola. He further explained steps being taken by the AU Commission to get Member States to rescind travel restrictions imposed on the affected countries. He emphasized the urgent need to open all borders to ease the humanitarian difficulties by ensuring the unhindered movements of people, including health personnel, commodities and food supplies to the three countries.

In response, President  Johnson-Sirleaf expressed appreciation with the role the AU is playing under the leadership of  the African Union Commission Chairperson, HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in the fight against Ebola. She welcomed the deployment of AU medical team  and AU decisions  that called upon Member States to lift  travel restrictions imposed on the affected countries. The President underlined the need for proper coordination among all humanitarian actors on the ground and pointed out that her Government has put in place proper structures to facilitate the coordination of the exercise.  “With effective collaboration, Ebola will be a thing of the past” President optimistically told the AU delegation.

Commissioner Kaloko also met and briefed the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General (SRSG) to the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), the UN Resident Coordinator and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the ASEOWA operation  and other interventions the AU has put in place to combat the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease.  He noted that AU through ASEOWA will work closely with UNMIL, UNMEER, WHO, ECOWAS and other partners in the fight against Ebola. The SRSG UNMIL lauded the AU initiative to deploy health personnel and promised to provide support to the ASEOWA operation.

In a related development, the Commissioner called upon the media to intensify public campaigns to contain the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease.  Addressing a press conference in Monrovia, the Commissioner pleaded with journalists to robustly engage with and educate communities on  the prescribed method to stop the spread the virus.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner and his team are now on their way to Conakry, Guinea as he continues his visit of some West African states to discuss the responses to the Ebola outbreak.WB/WZM

CUBA SENDING 165 MEDICAL PERSONNEL TO TACKLE EBOLA

Monrovia, Liberia –6 October 2014- The Cuban government is sending 165 health workers to help tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, among them 63 doctors and 102 nurses, epidemiologists, specialists in infection control, intensive care specialists and social mobilization officers, who will travel to Sierra Leone in October and stay for six months.

A statement issued by the Cuban embassy in Addis Ababa says the Cuban Minister of Health of Cuba, Dr. Roberto Morales, explained that all the members of the brigade that will be sent to Sierra Leona,  have previously participated in responses to natural disasters or epidemics, as well as medical collaboration missions, with some 23% having joined more than one internationalist effort.

In Africa to date, 76,744 health care providers have offered their services in 39 countries. Currently, 4,048 heath workers, including 2,269 doctors, are collaborating in 32 countries. Cuba is present today in 66 countries, with 50,731 health workers, of whom 64.6% are women and 25, 412 are doctors. WZM