At the
Africa Leadership meeting on Investing in Health convened by the AU, the
Government of Rwanda in partnership with the Global Fund and Gavi on the
sidelines of the AU meeting in Addis Ababa. With President Mahamadou Issoufou
of Niger, Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, Bill Gates of the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia.
Leaders
affirmed that investing in health is investing in development and a healthy
citizenry is also the most productive citizenry. UN Secretary-General António
Guterres said, “Good health is both an outcome and a driver of progress.”
Access
to good health services is not only a human right but also smart economics.
Beyond health ministers, finance ministers need to buy into this message.
Leaders further affirmed that African governments must contribute more to the
healthcare of their own people and reduce dependence on donors by a concerted
effort to raise tax to GDP ratios, increase the budget pie, allocate more to
health expenditures and use these resources more efficiently and effectively to
deliver acceptable health outcomes!
The
Private sector has to play an important role, as public resources alone cannot
bridge the $66 billion per annum health care gap on the continent calculated by
the Economic Commission for Africa.
Comments
Post a Comment