Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Yaoundé, Cameroon – On July 6, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Health Security Agenda (GSHA), the Cameroon National Zoonoses Program, the One Health Platform, and USAID’s implementing partner, Breakthrough ACTION, participated in a round table discussion at the La Falaise Hotel. The interactive discussion marked the World Zoonoses Day, highlighting the theme: “Preventing the next pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission.” The round table discussion focused on how to further raise awareness on the risk of zoonotic diseases and encourage the public to participate in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign. According to Dr. Conrad Ntoh Nkuo, the Permanent Secretary of the Cameroon National Zoonoses Program, the Government of the Republic of Cameroon commits itself to ensuring health security in the country through capacity building of the national Zoonoses Program and the effective implementation of the One Health concept. USAID Country Representative Paul Richardson highlighted that since 2012, the U.S. Government has provided support to strengthen Cameroon’s capacities to prevent, rapidly detect, and respond adequately to zoonotic and other rare disease outbreaks. Overall, between 2015 and 2020, USAID had provided more than $37 million (over 20 billion CFA) in support. We look forward to continued collaboration with Cameroonian health officials to prevent zoonotic diseases and outbreaks.
Download the press statement here. (PDF 488 KB)