Staff Reporter
Many African countries continue to feel the impact of Covid-19, which not only exerted enormous pressure on health systems, but also sounded the alarm on the need to reform and revitalise the continent’s health system.
The second International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2022) was held in Kigali, Rwanda, for three days with African Heads of State, health ministers and leading researchers and scientists.
The conference aimed to build on conversations started at CPHIA 2021, helping to accelerate progress against the continent’s most significant health challenges, and building more resilient health systems.
“There has been an incredible amount of interest in CPHIA 2022 from across Africa and around the world. It is clear this conference is needed now more than ever,” said Senait Fisseha, CPHIA 2022 co-chair and vice president at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.
CPHIA 2022 featured nine plenary sessions, 14 parallel sessions, nine abstract-driven sessions, a high-level ministerial session and opening and closing ceremonies, more than 50 official in-person side-events in Kigali beginning on 12 December, plus an additional 10 side- events held virtually.
“This conference brings essential conversations about Africa to Africa – conversations on topics like pandemic preparedness, increasing local vaccine production, tackling infectious and non-communicable diseases and African leadership in health,”, said Agnes Binagwaho, CPHIA 2022 co-chair.
She added: “We are grateful to the Africa CDC and our CPHIA 2022 co-hosts the Rwandan Government for bringing us together this year, and driving progress towards the Africa We Want.”
The conference is coming at a critical time when many African countries continue to feel the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, the witnessed emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a grave threat to the health and lives of millions in Africa.
“It’s time that countries should collectively invest in stronger health system governance, including multi-sectoral collaboration within countries,” observed Africa CDC’s Ahmed Ouma.
He said: “Africa CDC has presented its vision of a new public health order, which aims to ensure that effective health systems exist before a crisis, and remain resilient during and post-crisis.
“CPHIA 2022 will shine a spotlight on this new approach to public health, shaped by local leadership and regional solutions.”
Rwanda’s health minister Sabin Nsanzimana said recurrent outbreaks highlight gaps in health systems. “CPHIA 2022 is a great opportunity to come together as leaders in the public health sector, and discuss building more resilient systems that will allow our countries to better respond to emerging health threats while continuing to address long-standing infectious and non-communicable diseases,” he added.