Angola: President Appoints Ad-Hoc Ebola Prevention Team

4 January 2009

Luanda — Angolan head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, Saturday in Luanda appointed an ad-hoc ebola (haemorrhagic fever) prevention team, coordinated by prime minister, António Paulo Kassoma, Angop learned from an official source.

According to the source, the nomination of the said team takes into account the fact that an outbreak of the disease has been recorded in the western Kassai province of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, bordering Angola's northeastern Lunda Norte province.

The appointment of the team is also meant for urgent measures to prevent Angola from being hit by the pandemic, in view of the migratory flows across the border.

The team comprises the ministers of Health, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Territory Administration, Commerce, Social Welfare and the chief of Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and the National Police general commander.

On the same dispatch, the head of State outlines a set of actions that must be carried out by each ministry involved in the ad-hoc team, that is also backed by a technical team coordinated by the Interior deputy minister for Migration and Foreigners Services, assisted by the executive coordinator of the National Commission for Civil Protection.