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“In addition to the national- and regional-level roles necessary to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), organisations at the continental level also have a very important role to play in pushing for equitable access to healthcare. The African continent has the advantage of leadership that has proven to be effective, both in addressing crises as well as creating frameworks and casting a vision for a better future.”
Joelle Mumley
UHC at the Continental Level
The African Union (AU) and Africa Healthcare Federation (AHF), representing the public and private sectors respectively at the continental level, play the role of setting the agenda for healthcare in Africa. This includes defining UHC, setting targets and establishing strategies. The AU’s Agenda 2063 defines goals aimed at creating the “Africa We Want,” including “healthy and well-nourished citizens.” Additionally, it is the role of these bodies to promote issues of justice and equity, ensuring that the agenda of UHC starts with the poor and vulnerable, making them the priority and building from there.
The African Union (AU) and Africa Healthcare Federation (AHF), representing the public and private sectors respectively at the continental level, play the role of setting the agenda for healthcare in Africa. This includes defining UHC, setting targets and establishing strategies. The AU’s Agenda 2063 defines goals aimed at creating the “Africa We Want,” including “healthy and well-nourished citizens.” Additionally, it is the role of these bodies to promote issues of justice and equity, ensuring that the agenda of UHC starts with the poor and vulnerable, making them the priority and building from there.
Continental leadership creates a framework that has cross-cutting principles, but that countries can also adapt to within their own context. It is essential that such frameworks emphasise the importance of the public sector’s leadership in the journey toward UHC, highlighting the necessity of political goodwill and action from heads of state and requiring leaders to take the politics out of policy. Concurrently, the role of the private sector needs to be emphasised as a critical partner. In fact, public sector should make it a priority for private sector to have an environment that enables them to thrive. The AU and AHF have the opportunity to encourage buy-in from all stakeholders and model, through their dialogue and collaboration with each other, how cooperation between public and private sectors can be done.
Something that has become clear during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically is how unified, continental leadership can make a significant impact. Diseases do not know borders and, therefore, a national or even regional response to the virus would have been inadequate. The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a technical institution within the AU, has coordinated the response to the virus, including collecting and disseminating public health information, providing guidance to individuals and governments on how to prevent transmission and evaluating and approving effective vaccines.
Additionally, this pandemic has encouraged the African health sector to look within itself for its resources, which requires leadership at the continental level. Intra-African trade will be bolstered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to increase the ease of trade between African nations. Although in its early stages, its potential is exciting and countries on the continent will find it easier to trade within Africa than to import from farther away.
While each nation needs to decide its own path to UHC and regional integration will be a key aspect of successfully achieving UHC, continental leadership is what will ensure that we all are able to move forward together in an equitable, efficient and wise manner.