African health and finance ministers have issued a unified call to transition from external dependency to self-reliance in health systems, aiming to bolster the continent's resilience against future health crises.
The ministers articulated their position Friday during a high-level side event hosted by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on the margins of the 39th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
They called for enhanced local vaccine manufacturing capabilities and greater domestic resource mobilization to fund national health priorities.
"In the era of decreasing funding, people must think outside the box, have various ways of raising money domestically, taking ownership. Many countries have now come up with various taxes like sin taxes to finance their own health systems. And this is something that we want to commend," said Douglas Mombeshora, Zimbabwean Minister of Health and Child Care, in an interview with China Global Television Network on the sidelines of the event.
Sarah Cleto Rial, South Sudan's Minister of Health, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the urgency of local pharmaceutical production.
"It's time to think about what we Africans can do ourselves in terms of local manufacturing of drugs. That should be a focus," said Rial.
The push aligns with the Africa CDC's broader strategy to fully implement the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda, which is designed to ensure the continent is no longer left waiting at the back of the queue during the next pandemic.
"A sovereign continent cannot depend on the fluctuation of external aid for its vaccines. We must finance our health through domestic resource mobilization and African-led financial institutions," said Sidi Ould Tah, president of the African Development Bank Group.
The Africa CDC has set ambitious targets of localizing production of 60 percent of the continent's vaccine needs by 2040 and establishing a digital health ecosystem that connects every rural clinic to a continental data center.
Yet the assertion of sovereignty requires funds.
"Advancing health security and sovereignty in Africa will require stronger and deliberate engagement with regional finance institutions," said Mekdes Daba, Ethiopian Health Minister.
African officials are now advocating for diversified funding channels to bridge this gap, aiming to generate half of all health-related funding from domestic budgets.
African ministers call for health self-reliance to end aid dependency
