Africa: AU Commits to Stronger Health Systems, Universal Coverage

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Ghanaian Times report, said African heads of state and government adopted the Accra Declaration on Wednesday at the end of the African Union’s 20th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on Health in Accra. The declaration renews continental commitments to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, reduce avoidable deaths among mothers and children, and respond to communicable and non-communicable diseases.

According to the report, AU member states committed to expanding access to quality care and working toward universal health coverage by 2030. The declaration emphasizes primary health care, integrated services, community involvement, stronger epidemic and pandemic readiness, research and innovation, and sustainable financing. Leaders also pledged to address financial, social, structural and geographic barriers that limit access to health services, especially for women, children, adolescents, people with disabilities, migrants, displaced people and other vulnerable groups.

The Ghanaian Times reported that the declaration also seeks to reduce Africa’s reliance on imported medical products by speeding up the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, increasing regional production of medicines, vaccines and diagnostics, and making the African Medicines Agency fully operational. It further restates the Abuja Declaration target for African governments to devote at least 15 percent of national budgets to health, while pursuing new financing approaches and reducing dependence on outside support.

AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development Amma Twum Amoah said progress had been made on treatment access, AIDS-related deaths and disease surveillance, but warned that HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, preventable maternal and child deaths, and non-communicable diseases remain major pressures. She urged governments to turn the declaration into national action through investment, local manufacturing and stronger surveillance.