More Investments Needed To Fight Covid-19 And Further Disease Outbreaks
Health Systems 09/03/2021 •
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The pandemic is a call for a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to ensure that Africa is prepared for future outbreaks.

African governments, the private sector, and development partners need to invest more in health and health systems to intensify the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and any future disease outbreaks, according to health experts speaking at the African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) on Tuesday.

The experts agreed that a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach is needed to not only ensure that Africa does not face crippling effects of another pandemic, but that well-planned and integrated responses to improving health securities and building health societies are adopted.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Africa Director, said the pandemic was a massive wake up call for Africa’s health systems, both revealing glaring gaps in health security and health systems and highlighting the lack of funding in the advancement of the health eco-chain.

“A big issue is investment in health and financing of health. We have noticed a stagnation per capita in most African countries in the past few years,” said Moeti, adding that the WHO had recommended that countries increase the funding per capita from $60 to $90 in lower income countries and $170 in higher income countries.

African governments, the private sector and development partners need to invest more in health and health systems to intensify the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and any future disease outbreaks, according to health experts speaking at the African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) on Tuesday.

Speaking under the theme Build Back Better: Health Security Beyond COVID-19, the plenary on the second day of the conference focussed on how governments, private sector entities, civil society organizations and development partners need to put in place long term, country-led strategies to prevent another widespread disease outbreak and ultimately build back better post-COVID-19. 

The experts made a case for urgent, concrete action for governments and health leaders to take in order to strengthen health systems, prepare and protect populations; highlight existing response and preparedness strategies to mitigate the risks of future disease outbreaks and build resilient health systems. 

They also called upon health leaders, policy makers, pan-African organizations, academic and research institutions, and global organizations to commit to disease outbreak preparedness and recovery measures.

Provide Environments Conducive for Investment

Greg Perry, assistant director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), called for greater investment in health, universal health coverage, health insurance, health systems and manufacturing.

“Investment in health is fundamental for economic sustainability…and all economic actors should be on board,” he said.

The need for investment was paramount to the fight against pandemics, but Perry said the continent should be cognisant of some of the challenges faced in attracting investments and should work on addressing such.

These include fragmented markets, regulatory challenges, skilled workforce and proper environments to enable investment, said Perry.

He pointed to how, even if African countries produce local vaccines, they might be dependent on open borders to import components of what will be produced locally.

“A lot of these challenges are pre-existing, but a lot of work has been done to address them,” he said, adding that a mind shift was taking place everywhere on how best to move forward.

Perry further emphasised the need for an improved culture of pandemic preparedness and solidarity between countries.

Moeti echoed this sentiment and said a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach needed to be adopted to “protect health, the economy and the most vulnerable people”. “We need to put safety nets in place.”

Where Did We Go Wrong With The COVID-19 Response?
African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) – Plenary 2: Build Back Better – Rebuilding Africa’s Health Systems Beyond COVID-19
Clockwise: Dr Solomon Zewdu, Patricia Vermuelen, Dr Ngcobo, WHO Africa Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Dr John Nkengasong

John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said that in addition to investing in health, countries need to interrogate improvements that could be considered to fight the pandemic. 

This would include investigating “what went wrong, what went right and what we can do better”.

One year, two months into the pandemic, Nkengasong is of the view that there needs to be a holistic approach to better understand pathogens, population, policy and politics. More importantly, he said that if policy and politics are not aligned then whatever work is done in pathogens and population would be of little use.

“The fight is still ahead…now we have political leadership that is quite adamant about being aligned to hold downstream accountable,” said Nkengasong.

Lessons learnt from previous outbreaks, including Ebola, should have been adapted to fight the pandemic which to date has globally claimed the lives of more than 2.6-million people.

“We need to invest in endemic diseases…if we get those systems right then we can fight any pandemic. This pandemic has shaken us to the core …still a lot of work needs to be done.”

Rapid Vaccine Delivery Should be Celebrated

While the pandemic had devastating consequences, Dr Martin Fitchet, Global Head of Research & Development for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, said it was not “all bad news in terms of response” as there was “remarkable co-ordination” between governments and the private sector to deliver vaccines to the markets in reasonable time.

“Very rapid decisions were made for obvious reasons…we need to continue to invest to ensure that we have the appropriate response,” he said, quipping that: “Let’s just do it and not say we are going to do it.”

Image Credits: African Development Bank , Amref Health Africa.

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