President Paul Kagame has issued a rallying call for African leaders to work together and define new wheels for concrete collaboration on health care among governments, businesses, and the growing number of philanthropies, as the continent looks to address financing gaps in its healthcare systems. Kagame was speaking at a high-level meeting on domestic health financing held on the sidelines of the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday, February 14. ALSO READ: Strengthening Africa's health systems In his capacity as the AU Champion on Domestic Health Financing, Kagame stressed that without the private sector and philanthropic engagement, efforts to enhance domestic investment in health systems that align with continental priorities would be in vain. “Africa now finds itself at a crossroads. The health financing landscape has shifted dramatically,” Kagame said at the meeting which was attended by Heads of State, health ministers, finance ministers, as well as African and global philanthropists. The meeting comes at a time when Africa’s health systems face significant gaps, including long-standing shortages of health workers, limited access to healthcare facilities, weak infrastructure, and insufficient funding for healthcare services. The continent has long grappled with the challenges of access to high-quality medical products for its 1.4 billion people. Available data indicates that Africa imports over 90 percent of its health commodities. ALSO READ: Robust private sector could fortify Africa's health system “To attract grant funding for health, we will have to make a very strong case, and that means contributing more from our resources, and relentlessly focusing on value for money,” Kagame said, adding that it should not be a daunting task. “The work to build our continent, including our health, cannot be outsourced to anyone else. Current events are therefore an invitation for us to take full ownership of our challenges, and find alternative ways of addressing them,” he added. The work to be done President Kagame said that for the next chapter of Africa’s domestic health financing mission, African leaders must commit to contributing more to the continent’s health bodies including the Africa CDC, AUDA NEPAD as well as the Africa Medicines Agency (AMA). “Strong and capable continental bodies save us money and save lives and we saw this clearly during the COVID pandemic and more recently in the continental response to Mpox and Marburg.” Kagame added; “We need to join forces with the growing community of African philanthropies and ensure that health will be a major target of their charitable giving.” The Head of State pointed out that it is through partnering with African philanthropies that foundations from outside such as The Gates Foundation, the Susan T Buffett Foundation, and the Mastercard Foundation can leave a legacy far in excess of the amount they have spent. He said that a study of successful health systems around the world continues and confirms that without exception the private sector plays an enormous economic role, both in the provision of care and in ensuring that workers benefit from high-quality insurance. The high-level meeting is also expected to chart a new path for strengthening domestic health financing mechanisms in Africa through fostering high-level political commitment and driving country-led investments. The meeting is also set to provide a platform to evaluate the implementation status of the pledge by AU member states to allocate at least 15 percent of their national budgets to health.
