Health Professionals Pledge to Increase Funding for Africa.

Posted on : Wednesday , 29th November 2023

During the two-day pre-Kigali conference, a number of African experts, including representatives from the World Health Organisation, UNAids, NEPAD and the AU Business Council, shared best practises and insights gained from the private sector's involvement in health and health financing.

More than three hundred attendees from across the continent are expected for the main conference, which is scheduled for February of next year in Kigali, Rwanda. The theme of the conference is to "Sustain the HIV response through financing and investing in health systems for improved health security on the continent."

Dr. Amit Thakker, Executive Chair of the African Health Business, stated that the continent must generate solutions and knowledge in the field of digital healthcare so that other nations can import the services.

“All we need to do is invest in the technology and infrastructure of our continent. It is important that we remove all stereotypes and promote Africa in a positive light in energising the initiatives taken by UNAids and NEPAD."

“Africa should use the next ten years as a decade of implementation. When speaking of investing in the healthcare industry in Africa, we must not use words such as profit because society would think that we are only concerned about profit.

“Plundering must be separated from profits. We are speaking about capacity building and making sure that facilities are able to produce enough for the continent, and that we are able to compete on the global stage,” said Thakker.

Hema Bhunjun-Kassee, a health ministry representative from Mauritius, stated that the island nation was dedicated to investing in healthcare and that they relied on the private sector to support their initiatives.

“We are a small island nation depending heavily on tourism, we rely on other partners to attract resources and we are confident that all this is achievable.

“We must promote medical tourism and accept that there are great competitors such as India but we must acknowledge we can contribute to skincare and other products that are important for our society.”

It is anticipated that the pre-conference suggestions will be presented and put into practise at the Kigali conference the following year.