Global Health Progress (GHP) hosted senior health officials from seven sub-Saharan African countries for its 4th Annual African Health Delegation, a week of meetings with key global health stakeholders in Washington, D.C. and New York City (April 11-15, 2011).
In the spirit of the week’s theme – “Accelerating Progress through Strengthened Partnerships” – Delegates discussed successful partnership strategies that have helped their countries overcome health challenges on the ground and worked with stakeholders to identify remaining hurdles and opportunities for future partnerships. This year’s delegation included officials from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Swaziland and Uganda and represented the widest spectrum of global health stakeholders to date.
Throughout the week, the Delegates shared their experiences, insights and expertise with representatives from the Obama Administration, the U.S. Congress, the private sector, NGOs, foundations and universities.
The Delegates candidly engaged leading pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Pfizer, sanofi-aventis, GSK, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Celgene, on the companies’ existing programs in Africa and ways to build on these partnerships. Dr. Jeff Sturchio, President and CEO of the Global Health Council, moderated a private dinner discussion during which the Delegates impressed upon stakeholders the need to more concretely define “country ownership” of health issues and programs and the roles taken up by partners in these programs.
In their discussions with U.S. government officials, which included meetings with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Delegates expressed their deep appreciation for landmark programs such as PEPFAR, but alluded to their concern over diminishing funding for other essential programs, such as GAVI. Despite it being a politically turbulent week in Washington, with nearly round-the-clock debates on funding the U.S. budget taking place, Delegates celebrated the news that the U.S. would expand funding to its global health programs in 2011 alongside the policymakers who negotiated those increases.
One of the most pressing issues for many African countries is the high prevalence and tremendous public health implications of counterfeit medicines. Counterfeit medicines comprise some 30 to 50% of the drug supply in many African nations. Ambassador Amina Ali, the African Union’s (AU’s) Ambassador to the U.S., welcomed Delegates to the AU for a roundtable discussion highlighting innovative ways countries are combating counterfeit medicines’ threat. Mr. Linus Awute, the Permanent Secretary of Health for the Nigerian Ministry of Health, detailed his country’s efforts to combat the problem both internally and regionally, and emphasized the great need for better public education on the dangers of counterfeits. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Bright Simons, founder of mPedigree, an innovative service that allows consumers to report counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Following the meetings in Washington, representatives from GHP and the Delegation travelled to New York City to engage stakeholders there on the mounting challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa. NCDs are estimated to cause 30% of deaths in Africa, a number that is expected to double by 2020. All attendees highlighted the need for preparing health systems to respond to the demands of emerging disease priorities. During a panel discussion at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and a roundtable co-convened by the Clinton Global Initiative, Delegates reflected on the NCD burden in their countries and NCDs’ impact on future allocations of health resources. At present, NCDs represent only 2% of total global health funding.
In addition to these formal opportunities for dialogue, GHP hosted receptions throughout the week where members of the Delegation shared their experiences and worked to solidify partnerships and mobilize broader stakeholder action alongside members of the African Diplomatic Corps, U.S. government officials, industry and other private sector representatives and NGOs.
GHP’s 2011 African Health Delegation included Dr. Frank Nyonator (Director for Policy, Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation for Ghana’s Health Service), Dr. Khumo Seipone (Director of Health Services for the Botswana Ministry of Health), Dr. Ngozi Obike-Azodoh (Assistant Director of Planning, Research and Statistics and Head of the MDG Coordination/Resource Mobilization Unit in the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health), Ambassador Felistas Khayumbi (Director of Administration for the Kenyan Ministry of Medical Services), Mrs. Malerato Khoeli (Principal Secretary for Health for Lesotho), Mr. Linus Awute (Permanent Secretary of Health for the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health), Dr. Nathan Kenya-Mugisha (Director General of Health Services for Uganda’s Ministry of Health), and Dr. Velephi Okello (Director of Swaziland’s National ART Program).
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Global Health Progress is a group of socially conscious pharmaceutical companies that recognize Africa’s disproportionate disease burden. GHP serves as a platform to exchange the best thinking on new ideas and innovative solutions to health challenges.
The Whitaker Group, the premier consultancy focused on advancing business and enterprise solutions to address poverty in Africa, coordinated the Delegation’s visit.
