Africa: Opening remarks by HE Dr Jean Kaseya at the launch of the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter

Honorable and dear colleagues.Let me first thank the Government of Namibia for hosting this Forum and welcoming us.

It is both an honor and a privilege to be before you today at the beginning of the Africa Health Workforce Investment Forum. This meeting, under the esteemed auspices of the World Health Organization, marks a pivotal moment in our collective efforts to strengthen health systems across the African continent through strategic investments in our health workforce. Let me thank WHO AFRO for organizing this important event.

Honorable and dear colleagues.As you know, the world is currently negotiating the pandemic agreement in Geneva. Since healthcare personnel are essential to the PPPR, there is a substantive Article 7 dedicated to this pandemic agreement.

Therefore, let me read paragraph 1 of this article 7:

1. Each Party, in accordance with its respective national capabilities and circumstances, shall take the necessary measures to establish, safeguard, protect, invest in and maintain a multidisciplinary, skilled, trained and diverse workforce to prevent, prepare for and respond to health emergencies. closer to where they begin, including in humanitarian settings, while maintaining essential health services and quality public health functions to contain outbreaks and prevent the escalation of small-scale spread to global proportions.

Honorable and dear colleagues, There is a clear responsibility for every African country to deliver on this commitment that we are making under the Pandemic Agreement because we will be accountable and the world will evaluate our performance as a country, as a region and as a continent because our continent supports a significant share of the world’s wealth. disease burden, but we operate with one of the smallest healthcare workforces in the world.

The statistics say it all:

• While sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 24% of the global disease burden, it is home to only 3% of the world’s health workers.

• Achieving universal health coverage by 2030 will require 1.8 million additional health workers in Africa alone. The critical shortage of health workers in Africa is expected to reach approximately 6.1 million by 2030, This will be exacerbated by the recurring public health emergencies we face daily. In 2023 alone, Africa recorded 166 disease outbreaks and the trend I see in 2024 is not promising.

AU member states are far from meeting the 2017 AU Assembly Decision that called for the rapid recruitment, training and deployment of 2 million institutionalized CHWs by 2030. To accelerate this agenda, we thank our Heads of State for They approved the presented decision during the 2024 AU Assembly. by Africa CDC to appoint President Bola Tinubu as champion of partnership between health workers and community health service delivery. I will be in Abuja in the third week of May to meet with President Bola and discuss how he can help the continent drive this agenda.

• Studies show that investments in the healthcare sector generate substantial economic returns, with an estimated return on investment of nine to one. This is one of the tests I use when I talk about changing the narrative in health in Africa. In fact, some of you Ministers here know that you sometimes have difficult conversations with Finance Ministers because you still believe that the health sector is a liability. The new narrative that we are promoting is to transform the health sector to go from a liability to an asset for the economy of our countries. Then we will start having another conversation with our Finance Ministers. In fact, they will be people who will start looking for health ministers.

In fact, according to data from the World Economic Forum, as a driving force of their economies, the pharmaceutical industry sector was responsible for more than 35% of the GDP from Switzerland and India between 2010 and 2020.

Now, Honorable and colleagues, You will understand why every day I call the local manufacturing agenda in Africa as the second independence of our continent because it will bring health security, job creation, economic growth, peace and stability.

Last week, I was bothered by an article in the British newspaper The Telegraph and perhaps some of you saw it. This article claims that local manufacturing in Africa is a dead dream and warns that Africa simply has to accept that India is the Pharmacy of the world and strengthen its ties with this country to import necessary vaccines and medicines. To support their conclusion, they describe three challenges:

(1) Low human capacity, (2) Low capacity to develop antigens for vaccines, and (3) Inability to acquire vaccines manufactured based on economic scales.

• The first challenge is why we are here today. While we have made tremendous progress in Africa, this meeting will send a strong message about our strong commitment to addressing the health workforce by becoming innovative.
• The second challenge is why we are fighting under the pandemic agreement to have greater technology transfer. Let us also recognize the effort we made and now we are attracting more resources for R&D and clinical trials in Africa.
• The third reason is why Africa CDC presented to the heads of State who approved during the AU Assembly in February 2024 the creation of the continental pooled procurement mechanism. What kind of economies of scale are they talking about when you have a market of 1.4 billion people and it continues to grow to become the first largest market in a few years?

To make our action more concrete, you saw that in March 2024, Africa CDC signed an MoU with UNICEF that is transferring its capacity in joint procurement mechanisms and supply chain management to our continental organization. In summary, in the next 2-3 years, Africa CDC will take over and play the role played by UNICEF Supply Division in Copenhagen in procuring and supplying African countries with essential commodities in preference to products made in Africa.

Honorable and dear colleagues,

Two weeks ago I was in Washington for the spring meeting of the WG-IMF. Between meetings, I had an impressive meeting with the Finance Ministers of Egypt, Tanzania and the Central African Republic, who agreed with me to work together and change the narrative. Thanks to the innovative financing experience that he managed to implement in Egypt and that generated around 2 billion dollars for the health sector, I have appointed the Minister of Egypt as leader of the high-level African panel on innovative financing in the area of health. . Other members will be 3 other finance ministers, 3 health ministers, some partners and personalities. You will have details about this initiative very soon.

To close the gap between Finance and Health, I also initiated a continental platform for exchange on health financing that will bring together each year during the spring meeting in April in Washington our Ministers of Finance, Planning, Budget and Health, supported by some Chiefs State for the most part. our champions in different areas.

Since announcing this initiative, I have seen great interest from various partners such as the World Bank, IMF, US Treasury, Gavi, GFATM, the private sector and many others who have applied to participate. We are working on it and will update it in due time.

Honorable and dear colleagues,

As has been proven, we will get nowhere if we do not have the right healthcare personnel.

At the continental level, our countries have adopted the AU Agenda 2063 “the Africa we want”. To achieve this ambitious agenda, we have a milestone that is the Sustainable Development Goal in 2030, especially for us SDG 3. Achieving SDG 3 means that we must achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. How can we achieve all that Yes Are we still facing a serious shortage of health workers in Africa that is undermining our populations’ access to quality health services?

While some progress has been made towards establishing a strong and resilient health system in some African countries, substantial progress is missing in terms of ensuring adequate and fair distribution of health workers at regional and national levels.

The shortage of public health personnel in Africa is due to several factors, including lack of financing of the health system by Member States, inadequate training capacity, poor remuneration of health workers, rapid population growth, uncontrolled international labor migration, weak governance of health personnel and lack of career opportunities. path as well as poor retention of health personnel.

Today, this forum brings us together not only to debate, but also to act. Over the next few days we will delve into a series of crucial topics such as:

1. Innovative financing models: How can we creatively fund the expansion of health education and workforce training?
2. Policy and planning: What frameworks can be established or improved to support sustainable healthcare workforce growth?
3. Retention strategies: How do we keep talent within our borders and ensure our investments last?
4. Technological advances: How can we leverage technology to train, support and expand the reach of our healthcare workers?
5. Private sector participation: What could be the incentives that we should give to the private sector to contribute to this agenda?

These discussions are not academic; They are urgent and they are essential.

Our collective effort is necessary to translate our plans into tangible results.

Honorable and dear colleagues,

As we set our sights on these ambitious goals, let us also remember the power of partnerships.

This forum is a testament to what we can achieve together. It is a space where governments, global and regional health partners, the private sector, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations converge with a common purpose.

Their participation and commitment indicate a willingness to embrace innovative solutions and advocate for the kind of transformative change that will not only improve health outcomes but also spur economic growth and stability across Africa.

In conclusion,

As we move forward with our sessions, let’s challenge ourselves to think outside the box. Let us commit to bold action and inclusive strategies. Let us harness our collective energies to build health systems that are not only equipped to meet current demands, but also resilient enough to adapt to future challenges.

Africa CDC is therefore proud to be part of the launch of the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter. It is my hope that this will mobilize and sustain political and financial commitment and foster inclusion and collaboration across sectors as part of the investment in the development, performance and retention of the health workforce in AU Member States. Thank you, once again, for your dedication to this cause. Let’s make history together by building a healthier and stronger Africa.

May 6, 2024, Windhoek, Namibia