NEARLY 50 health stakeholders from across Africa gathered in Nairobi for the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) Africa regional annual strategy meeting, where a call to end reliance on foreign aid for healthcare dominated opening discussions.
The two-day meeting, which ended yesterday, brought together civil society, lawmakers and public health officials to set advocacy priorities for domestic financing of health services.
Hwange Central MP Daniel Molokele, attending in his capacity as co-chairperson of the Pan African Parliamentary Taskforce on Domestic Financing for Health, said Africa should take full responsibility for funding its public healthcare systems.
“The time has now come for Africa to start fully funding its public healthcare services,” he said. “The era of depending on foreign funding from the global north must come to an end.”
Molokele argued that Zimbabwe and the continent are “rich enough to fully fund their healthcare services” and urged governments to translate commitments to budget allocations.
The meeting invoked the 2001 Abuja Declaration, in which African Union member States pledged to allocate at least 15% of their annual budgets to health.
Advocates said over two decades later, most countries remained short of that target and continued to rely heavily on external donors for HIV, TB, malaria and health system funding.
GFAN Africa said the strategy session focused on building parliamentary and civil society pressure for increased domestic resource mobilisation, accountability for existing health budgets, and protection of health financing amid global aid shifts.
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Participants included representatives from the African Union, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Women Against Children’s Illnesses Health and the Global Fund.
Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care ministry and the National Aids Council were also represented.
The push for domestic financing comes as several African countries face uncertainty over external health funding streams.
Advocates argue that predictable, locally-sourced funding is critical for health sovereignty and service continuity.
“Parliamentary champions have a role to play in ensuring health is prioritised in national budgets and funds are released and spent transparently,” Molokele said.
The meeting is expected to produce a regional advocacy roadmap ahead of key African Union and Global Fund replenishment processes later this year.
