Namacunde - Health delegations from Angola and Namibia are since Tuesday in southern Cunene Province for a four-day meeting to exchange experience in disease prevention and control in the border area.
The cross-border meeting being held in Santa Clara brings together heads of municipal health offices of the Angolan municipalities of Namacunde and Ombadja and the Ohangwena and Omusati regions in Namibia.
The event aims to strengthen methods of disease prevention along the common border, where cases of malaria, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and dranculosis are prevalent.
The four-day meeting discusses issues related to the malaria situation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, tuberculosis prevention and control, HIV/AIDS, Guinea worm surveillance and the risks of illegal immigration of populations in the area of contamination in Angola and Namibia.
Félix Belarmino, Head of the Department of Public Health and Endemic Control in Cunene, said the exchange of experience will reinforce cooperation between the two countries in the prevention and control of diseases in the border area.
The Health official revealed that although several regional and provincial meetings have been held, this is the first one between the municipalities that currently implement these programmes, thus giving them a better opportunity to align their strategies to combat the diseases.
He underlined that the meeting represents one of the best ways of working together to help the population living along the border, in terms of diagnosing and treating the diseases that affect the area due to a lack of communication and better coordination.
The representative of the Namibian delegation, Ms Dorothy Malomboka, on his turn, said the two countries are seeking to pool their experiences to better provide medical assistance to the people in need.
Cunene shares 460 kilometres of border with the Republic of Namibia, 349 by land and 120 by river.
PEM/LHE/OHA/MRA/AMP
