Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, is expected to begin a three-day official visit to Nigeria on Monday, a statement has said.
The statement, issued by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, in Abuja, said Moeti’s visit was at the invitation of the Federal Government.
Adewole said that the objective of the visit was to strengthen the collaboration between WHO and Nigeria.
He said during the visit, Moeti would hold discussions with senior government officials and key stakeholders on health development in Nigeria and the African region.
The minister said interactions during Moeti’s visit would centre on areas that required technical support from WHO in strengthening the health systems to achieve health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
”To further underscore the importance of the visit, this is the second time that the regional director is making the trip to Nigeria in one year.
”Moeti was in Nigeria in October 2015 to present the official communication from the director-general of WHO on the removal of Nigeria from the list of polio-endemic countries.
”The announcement followed the historic achievement of the country in interrupting the transmission of wild polio virus for 15 months, which exceeded WHO’s target for interruption at that time.”.
Adewole said that Moeti would also meet key political leaders to brief them on the status of the implementation of the WHO Transformation Agenda in the African region.
The minister added that the regional director would discuss further on the support needed toward strengthening health systems in order to improve the country’s health indicators. (NAN)