ACCRA, GHANA – World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on African leaders to improve their health systems and address underlying causes of diseases, as the continent moves to achieve self-sufficiency in its health financing.
Tedros was addressing the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra, stating that treatment alone will not solve Africa’s health problems.
“Treatment alone is not enough. We need to address the underlying factors that cause ill-health: conflict, poverty, lack of education, unsafe water and gender inequality. That’s why health system strengthening must be central to everything you decide in Accra,” he noted.
The WHO chief highlighted that constant conflicts and poor infrastructure still affect medical interventions all over the continent, including the Ebola outbreak in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where conflicts have made it very difficult to control the disease.
Opening his speech at the event, President of Ghana John Mahama said that there have been great achievements, pointing out that the number of those who die from AIDS in Africa has dropped by 74 per cent since 2004. Nevertheless, the African Union pointed out that the results achieved are fragile due to a lack of foreign financing. John Mahama emphasised that half of the 40 million people infected with HIV live in Africa.
The summit drew heads of state, ministers, and other African officials, who were to discuss the continent’s health compact.
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