Kodjoviakopé – On 12 August 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) officially handed over public health equipment and materials to the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care for use at the points of entry of Kodjoviakopé (Togo-Ghana border), Sanvee Kondji (Togo-Benin border), and Cinkassé (Togo-Burkina-Faso border). The handover ceremony was attended by Dr Kokou Wotobé, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care, representing the Minister; Mrs Hitomi Yamazaki, JICA representative; and Mrs Abibatou Wane-Fall, IOM Chief of Mission in Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Participants in the ceremony also included border officials (Immigration, Customs, General Service, Health Control) and many other prominent authorities. Equipment and materials handed over include 3 medical ambulances, 60 temperature screening devices (thermo-flash), 30 hand-washing stations, 18 mobile toilet stations, 6 water tanks for hand-washing and toilet stations, 6 isolation facilities and sanitary control booths, 30 pads and 15 laptops.

This equipment and public health infrastructure provided will strengthen the existing national border management capacities to better prepare for and respond to possible health crises, including the one related to COVID-19, at the land borders of Kodjoviakopé, Sanvee Kondji and Cinkassé. In fact, land borders, being crossing points between countries, play a major role in the international spread of epidemic-prone diseases. Thus, this equipment comes at the right time to ensure the effective control of the health status of individuals wishing to enter the Togolese territory, by detecting any suspected disease that could be a threat to public health.

In her address, Mrs Abibatou Wane-Fall, IOM Chief of Mission in Ghana, Togo, and Benin, stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed structural and emergency health weaknesses at the borders to effectively respond to health challenges induced by this pandemic. “Our greatest hope is that the implementation of this project will contribute to providing Togo’s terrestrial points of entry with public health equipment to better face possible health crises,” said Mrs Abibatou Wane-Fall. “The COVID-19 has revealed the need to further consider health issues to strengthen our countries’ socio-economic resilience to respond to public health crises. This project implemented at borders is in line with this dynamic as it builds operational capacity in public health crisis management at targeted points of entry, thus facilitating the maintenance of the free movement of goods and people even in situations of health crises,” said Mrs Hitomi Yamazaki, JICA representative.

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care, Dr Kokou Wotobé, pointed out that Togo has previously benefited from the same project of a set of materials and equipment in November 2021 with the deployment of volunteers in these points of entry to strengthen surveillance. He therefore expressed his gratitude to IOM and the Japanese cooperation for the efforts made in Togo to strengthen surveillance as part of the mitigation of epidemic-prone disease transmission at the designated borders. He also promised that these materials will be used properly for the populations’ well-being.

It should be noted that this handover ceremony is in line with the project, “Enhancing Border Management Capacity for Responding to Public Health Crisis Including COVID-19”. A project funded by JICA and implemented by IOM for the benefit of 6 targeted border posts in 5 cross-border countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin). The effective implementation of this project will facilitate sub-regional cross-border trade and increase intra-country connections. It will thus contribute to achieving MDGs 3, 9 and 10.

For more information, please contact: Etienne BANGA, Head of IOM Office in Togo, email: ebanga@iom.int.