By Insight Post Uganda
Kigali-Rwanda
Priority one on the agenda for the fifth edition of the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda, will be the urgent need for African nations to collaborate in efforts to build health systems and address health concerns related to climate change.
The biennial conference will take place from 5th – 8th March under the theme “Resilient Health Systems for Africa: Re-envisioning the Future Now”, with different representatives from African States to advocate for a unified continental voice ahead of their participation at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78), and Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2023 taking place in September and November respectively this year.
“If we are to address the emerging threats at the intersection of health and climate change, African countries must present a united front at global health and climate forums,” says Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Minister of Health, Rwanda, adding that Africa needs to have a unified message while presenting its tasks and demands at UNGA 78 and COP 28.
“Because it is the only way we can influence the global policy changes required to meet the needs of the African people,” he adds.
AHAIC will offer a platform to strengthen African unity at a time when the three-year COVID-19 pandemic and a global economic recession have increased nationalism in the global north but denied Africa access to finance for health and climate adaptation and mitigation.
The occasion will also touch on the dispersed initiatives that have long prevented comprehensive advancement on the continent.
According to Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Africa has not always received equitable service from the multilateral systems, and the COVID-19 epidemic served as a sobering reminder of Africa’s position in the global health food chain.
“While we acknowledge that African countries must also take responsibility for their role in under-investing in their health systems, we must also recognise that African-led solutions to African challenges still require some level of global support because there can be no global health security if Africa continues to be left out,” Ouma emphasises.
Over the course of the four days, policymakers, technocrats, opinion makers, inventors, researchers, and members of civil society will discuss how African nations can promote regional cooperation by developing shared policies, governance frameworks, and legal procedures to harmonise health systems and climate adaptation and mitigation efforts across the continent.
To create lasting health change in Africa, Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group CEO, Amref Health Africa, maintains that Africa must build more equal partnerships and unite to drive a common African agenda on climate and health.
By strengthening primary healthcare and tackling the socioeconomic determinants of health that are having an impact on population welfare all throughout the continent, Gitahi is convinced that the continent can confront the looming twin dangers of climatic crises and future pandemics in a more sustainable way.
AHAIC will further unveil the social determinants including education, economic opportunity, conflict and gender equity which are central to Amref Health Africa’s mission to catalyse and drive people-centred health systems as outlined in Amref’s 2023-2030 corporate strategy.
The conference is the first global health conference to be held in Africa to focus on mainstreaming climate into health policymaking and vice versa. It is jointly convened by Amref Health Africa, the Ministry of Health Rwanda, the African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The conference will serve as a launch pad for conferences on global health and climate change, where it will submit a global petition spearheaded by Africans calling for swift climate action and sustainable global health regulations to aid Africa’s transition to resilient health systems.
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