Africa must collaborate to address challenges in healthcare, Tinubu tells AU leaders

• Declares Nigeria’s Readiness To Host African Central Bank
• Says United West Africa Bigger Than Any Person, Group

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday declared that Africa must forge partnerships that transcend borders and sectors, leveraging on collective expertise, resources and knowledge to address the complex challenges confronting the health sector. 

The President also expressed Nigeria’s readiness to host the African Central Bank in line with the vision of the Abuja Treaty, saying his administration will engage the African Union Commission in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off as scheduled in 2028.

Speaking at the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Tinubu said Africa’s effective collaboration with the rest of the world to tackle existential health challenges is not merely a strategic choice but a moral imperative. 
 
The President, who was appointed as the AU Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, said the challenges confronting the continent are too complex and multifaceted for any one entity to tackle alone. 
 

“Access to essential healthcare services remains limited, especially in many rural areas, due to factors such as inadequate infrastructure, financial barriers, and more seriously, an acute shortage of trained manpower that is aggravated by workforce migration to wealthier countries.
 
“Non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are on the rise in our continent, further straining healthcare systems that are already struggling to cope. There still remains the critical need to address maternal and child health, as high maternal and child mortality rates continue to claim precious lives,” he said.
 

The President linked the continent’s capacity to successfully address these problems with its ability to adopt a whole-of-government approach, recognising that health outcomes are intrinsically linked to a myriad of socio-economic factors.

He added: “For instance, a healthy population is essential for a thriving economy as it leads to increased productivity and reduced healthcare costs. Similarly, education plays a crucial role in improving health outcomes by empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health and well-being.”
 
The President emphasised that healthcare professionals are the backbone of the healthcare system, and as such, investments must be made not only in training but also in creating conducive environments that enable healthcare professionals to thrive. 
 

“In our quest for universal health coverage, equity must be our central guiding principle. Health disparities, rooted in socio-economic inequality, gender discrimination, geographic isolation and other systemic injustices, demand political will and targeted interventions to address them. We must listen to the voices of marginalised communities, amplifying their concerns and aspirations as we strive to build more prosperous, just and inclusive societies.
 
“In Nigeria, we are making significant efforts, aimed at enhancing healthcare accessibility, affordability and quality for all citizens, irrespective of socio-economic standing. This initiative is driven by a multi-faceted approach focusing on strengthening leadership and governance within the health sector, optimising quality service delivery for efficiency and effectiveness. 

“The Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), which I unveiled last December, stands as a pioneering endeavour, deployed through a sector-wide approach, to improve health outcomes at scale. This initiative is strategically crafted to swiftly improve health indicators and unlock the economic potential embedded within Nigeria’s healthcare value chain. 

“Central to its mission is the unleashing of the nation’s human capital, alongside the potential economic boon that has been long dormant in the healthcare sector. The Federal Government, under my leadership, has already signed a Compact with State Governments and Development partners in this multi-stakeholder effort to improve health in Nigeria,” the President stated.
 
He urged African leaders to commit to concrete actions and policies that will drive positive change in healthcare delivery within their respective countries and regions, declaring: “Together, we can build a prosperous, healthier, more equitable future, for all Africans, in line with Agenda 2063.”

Addressing leaders at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday, President Tinubu affirmed that Africa’s success in conclusively addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on a foundation of deep-rooted solidarity, if it is to avoid perpetuating existing problems and creating new ones.

“As a continent and as individual nations, we face strong headwinds and difficult hurdles threatening to complicate our mission to bring qualitative democratic governance and economic development to our people. Many of these obstacles, such as climate change and unfair patterns of global trade, are largely not of our making. 

“However, some of the pitfalls, including coup-birthed autocracies and the deleterious tinkering with constitutional tenure provisions, are developmental cancers we as Africans are giving to ourselves,” he stated.

Speaking on the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, the President said disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.

“The drive for a peaceful, strong and united West Africa is bigger than any one person or group of people. The bonds of history, culture, commerce, geography and brotherhood hold deep meaning for our people. Thus, out of the dust and fog of misunderstanding and acrimony, we must seize the chance to create a new people-centric era of trust and accord. 

“To all who care to listen, I declare that if you come to the table to discuss important matters in good faith, you will find Nigeria and ECOWAS already sitting there waiting to greet you as the brother that you are,” President Tinubu said.

On education, which is the theme of this year’s summit, the President said education is the core ingredient in the process of evolving creative solutions to the unique challenges long confronting the continent. 

“In helping to achieve the Agenda 2063 objective of a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa, I consider African education, not only in the narrow context of the benign use of science and technology to improve the material standards of our people, but also in the nuanced appreciation of the fact that Africa must also become better educated in the humane art of democratic practice, diplomacy, and conflict resolution without violence.

“This year’s theme encourages us to remodel our educational systems to fit these goals. In Nigeria, my administration is devoting ample resources to education at all levels. From redesigning our school feeding programmes and academic curricula to making ourselves an Information and Communication Technology hub, through which we shall bring more youths into the classroom and furnish them with the tools required to flourish in the global economy of the 21st century,” he said. 

The President used the occasion to extend invitation to the Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit scheduled to take place in April 2024 in Abuja, stating that the summit aims at expanding discussions beyond military and law enforcement remedies to comprehensively tackle the root causes of violent extremism, such as poverty, inadequate political access and the propagation of hateful ideologies.