The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, delivered the opening speech at the High-Level Dialogue Between Finance and Heath Ministers on Value for Money, Sustainability and Accountability in the Health Sector organized by the AfDB and the Harmonization for Health in Africa Mechanism on July 4 and 5 in Tunis.

President Kaberuka spoke of the emergence of Africa within the new global financial reality. He highlighted the need to focus on the sustainability of Africa's growth, not only economically, but in terms of the social gains made, particularly in health. For that, he argued, there is a need to rethink the financing of health in Africa in terms of value for money, sustainability, equity in access to services, using technological advances to support the poor and learning from best practices to provide effective safety nets.

The conference gathered over 50 finance and health ministers and/or their representatives from 33 African countries, parliamentarians as well as over 400 participants from the public and private sectors, academia, civil society and media globally.

The conference emphasized the urgent need for greater domestic accountability, reduced dependence on foreign aid and the role of parliamentarians as well as using e-health in achieving greater value money in the delivery of health services in Africa. It also stressed the need to tackle the critical shortages, maldistribution and inadequate performance of health workers in Africa.