Benin’s president opens African health meeting in Cotonou

The declaration marked international concern; it was not the beginning or end of the outbreak.

WHO verified that Ecuador had eliminated transmission of human onchocerciasis.

Repeated ivermectin distribution and surveillance supported elimination.

Ecuador became the second country verified free of river blindness after Colombia.

The announcement recognized interrupted transmission, with monitoring still relevant.

At the Cotonou meeting, Boni Yayi asked African countries to consider conventional and traditional medicine in health cooperation.

The 2014 regional health meeting considered inherited care within a broader call to strengthen systems facing epidemics.

The Benin president connected traditional and conventional care with partnerships among countries of the Global South.

Cuba became the first country validated for eliminating mother-to-child HIV and syphilis transmission as public-health problems.

Testing and treatment during pregnancy formed part of the services WHO assessed.