General News of Saturday, 26 September 2015

Source: starrfmonline.com

Mahama hosts Bill Gates, UN boss in New York

President John Mahama President John Mahama

Ghana’s president John Mahama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg will today host in New York, a major event aimed at preparing the world to better manage any health crisis that arises.

The “Securing a Healthy Future: Resilient Health Systems to Fight Epidemics and Ensure Healthy Lives” event will take place on the margins of the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Developmental Agenda.

The event follows a proposal made to the UN Secretary General by the three world leaders for the setting up of a UN-Panel to review the world's preparedness to manage health disasters like the recent Ebola outbreak in some countries in West Africa.

The 'Securing a Healthy Future' will be attended by Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who is also the head of the UN High-Level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crises. The Panel was established in April 2015 in response to the proposal made by the three leaders.

Also attending the high-level event are the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Bill Gates and officials from the World Health Organisation, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the GAVI Alliance among others.