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Health experts, policymakers, and other stakeholders have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, to find solutions to Africa’s health challenges, amid the suspension of US Government foreign aid.
The discussions shall take place at the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC), 2025 that brings together leaders to address Africa’s unique health needs.
This comes as Kenya, and the continent at large, faces multiple crises, including disease outbreaks like M-Pox and Marburg, climate-related health threats, and shrinking global aid.
Themed "Connecting for Change: Addressing Social-Ecological Dynamics of Health," the conference aims to strengthen collaboration across sectors such as health, agriculture, and the environment.
The experts warn that climate change and environmental degradation are worsening health crises, and Africa must act now.
In a Nigeria Health Watch Podcast, Amref Health Africa Group CEO Githinji Gitahi stressed the need for the African continent to take control of its health agenda.
“You cannot have a resilient system if you do not control your own health commodities. The manufacturing agenda is critical for Africa’s health security,” said Dr Gitahi.
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Unprecedented global warming, he said is likely to disrupt health system infrastructure, and also arising burden of disease outbreaks that have to do with impact of climate change.
Amref Health Africa Group CEO emphasized that it is the right time, for Africa to set the African health agenda.
“We feel that with this social and ecological impact on health, it is clear that health is too important to be left to the ministry of health alone. We therefore need to be connected across sectors and geographic," he said.
"We have learnt during Covid-19 outbreaks, M-Pox and Marburg gab that inter-country, or inter-geographical connection is continentally critical to management of diseases to ensure there are minimal risks to every citizen of the continent,” he added.
Dr Gitahi noted that collaboration across sectors because of new threats, like climate change, environmental degradation is going to mean there is a major threat to human health, animal health and planet health as well, an issue that requires collaboration and connection with other sectors namely livestock, agriculture, environment and metrology among others to minimise threats that exist to our people so this is connecting together for change.
He further said that countries must connect not only for disease control, but also for collaboration in areas like response, regulation of health products and technologies.
Amref Health Africa Group CEO said the continent needs to come together to have a common manufacturing plan for Africa, so that Africa can assure itself of health security.
“We need to ensure we can pull our resources, ensuring that we can achieve Africa continental free area not only for trade but health and peace. This connectivity across geography and sectors is what we want to be the theme in AHAIC 2025. To get together to have common manufacturing plan, pull our resources,” he said.
The conference is hosted by Amref Health Africa, the Ministry of Health Rwanda, the World Health Organisation Africa Regional Office (WHO Afro), and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), among other stakeholders, is set for March 2 to 5, 2025, at the Kigali Convention Center.
The recent freeze on US foreign development assistance programs due to executive orders issued by the Trump administration, is also expected to take centre stage in the conference.
Global health leaders are expected to explore sustainable solutions and foster cross-sector partnerships to build a more resilient and self-sustaining health future for the continent.
Africa heavily depends on US Government to run its healthcare system, more so programs on three killer diseases namely HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
The freeze has caused uncertainty, leaving individuals who rely on the support in the balance, as states are yet to get immediate solutions.
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