A two-day African Union (AU) Extraordinary Session on Health has opened in Accra, with a call on African countries to strengthen their health systems, increase domestic health financing and accelerate efforts towards universal health coverage.
The summit is aimed at speeding up efforts to end AIDS by 2030, reduce preventable maternal deaths, tackle the communicable and non-communicable diseases endemic to the continent, and strengthen health systems to improve access to quality healthcare across Africa.
The call was made yesterday during the 25th Extraordinary Session of the AU Executive Council, the ministerial phase of the two-day session, ahead of today’s Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, where leaders are expected to adopt key decisions and a declaration on the continent’s health priorities.
The summit is being held under the theme, “Advancing Justice, Equity and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, TB, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions in Africa.”
Addressing the gathering on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, the Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, urged African governments to finance their own health systems, saying sustainable healthcare could only be achieved through predictable domestic resources and stronger regional cooperation.
He said that although Africa had made remarkable progress in reducing HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths over the past generation, the continent still faced major health challenges, particularly around maternal healthcare and access to quality health services.
According to Mr Akandoh, Africa accounted for almost 70 per cent of global maternal deaths, with nearly 200,000 women dying annually from preventable pregnancy-related causes.
He noted that the continent’s universal health coverage service index stood at 44, compared with a global average of 71.
He said many African families still had to choose between paying for medicines and meeting other essential needs, a situation that made universal health coverage difficult to achieve.
Mr Akandoh called on African countries to honour the Abuja Declaration by increasing domestic investment in healthcare, strengthening local manufacturing of medicines and vaccines, and placing primary healthcare at the centre of national health systems.
The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, in his presentation, called for stronger African leadership in health security.
He warned that the current Ebola outbreak could become the worst ever recorded if urgent action was not taken.
He urged member states to strengthen disease surveillance, increase investment in health systems and local pharmaceutical manufacturing, and improve accountability in the use of health resources, in order to reduce dependence on external support.
The Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government is expected to conclude the summit today, after considering recommendations from ministers and adopting a declaration to accelerate implementation of the African Union Roadmap to 2030.
BY STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG
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