Event

The Thirteenth Session of the Joint Action Forum (JAF 13)

Kampala, Uganda

4 - 7 December 2008

The Joint Action Forum (JAF) is the governing body of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) that meets once a year for extensive review of the program activities. The 13th session of JAF (JAF 13) was held in Brussels (Belgium) from December 4-7, 2007 with 130 participants in attendance. Prominent among the attendees were 13 Honorable Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Health from several of the 30 onchocerciasis-endemic African countries, representatives of the donor countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, APOC management, Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs), Merck & Co., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and directors and coordinators of national onchocerciasis control programs. The unusual presence of a large number of the Ministers of Health several of whom stayed on until the closure of the JAF 13 was commended as being indicative of the increasing high-level of political and financial commitment being shown by governments of participating endemic countries. The meeting was hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and chaired by Dr. Jacques Laruelle, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. The hosting and chairmanship of JAF meetings rotate each year between developed and developing countries.