Joint U.S. and WHO Delegates Visit AngolaAugust 8, 2005 - Dr. William Steiger, Special Assistant to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for International Affairs, joined Dr. Luís Gomes Sambo on a trip in late July to express and bolster international support for the reconstruction of the health system in Angola. Dr. Sambo, a native of Angola, is the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa. Dr. Steiger led the U.S. delegation, which consisted of Dr. Samuel Adeijni -Jones, Director of African Affairs within the Office of Global Health Affairs (OGHA); Mr. R.J. Benn, OGHA; and Joseph Grogan, Executive Director of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. The visit marked the beginning of Angola's important new polio eradication campaign. There are high hopes polio can be eradicated globally, but a strong and highly targeted vaccination approach is still needed. The polio virus, 50 years after the introduction of a vaccine, is at a critical point, with new cases confirmed each week. Each confirmed case calls for a strong response in terms of treatment and vaccination to prevent further spread. After four years without polio, new cases were identified in Angola in June 2005. These cases have been imported from India, a country where a high level of polio is still reported. Dr. Sambo and the delegation visited a hospital in Uige Province where patients with the Marburg hemorrhagic virus were treated, and the group spoke with survivors and health care workers. The Marburg virus has recently hit Angola hard, with a total to date of 368 suspected cases and 323 deaths. The United States, along with the government of Angola, international health officials, and non-governmental organizations, have brought medical expertise, equipment, laboratories, infection control, risk-communication efforts, and epidemiological surveillance to this critical effort to stem the spread of the Marburg virus. The delegation also made site visits to programs and activities being carried out by the U.S. and Angolan governments under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. As the U.S. Government Alternate Board Member of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Dr. Steiger led the delegation's visits to programs funded by the Global Fund. In two years, Angola has received three grants from the Global Fund, including more than $28 million for malaria, almost $28 million for HIV/AIDS, and more than $7 million for tuberculosis. The United States is the largest donor to the Global Fund, and has provided over one-third of all of the Global Fund's resources.
Last revised: October 22, 2007 | 
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