By Francis Ntow, GNA
Accra, April 30, GNA – The opening day of the 2026 World Health Summit Regional Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, was marked by calls for global cooperation, aimed at strengthening health systems resilience in Africa.
Speakers urged global leaders to strengthening health systems resilience, advance universal health coverage, and accelerate practical solutions to emerging health challenges.
The event, hosted by Aga Khan University (AKU), in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ministry of Health, Kenya, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, is on the theme: “Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems: Innovation, Integration and Interdependence.”
More than 2000 global health leaders, policymakers, researchers, and development partners are participating in the summit, featuring over 80 sessions focused on advancing solutions for stronger and more resilient health systems.
Opening the summit, Kenya’s President, William Ruto, said there was an urgent need for a decisive shift towards positioning Africa’s health architecture within the global system for better outcomes.
He called on African health institutions, governments, donor agencies, and implementing partners to move beyond fragmented approaches and embrace system-wide transformation anchored in ownership, investment, and accountability.
“This imbalance is neither sustainable nor tenable. It calls for a decisive and deliberate shift – from fragmented, piecemeal interventions to comprehensive, system-wide transformation,” he said.
“This should be anchored in coherent strategy, financed through both domestic and international capital, and sustained by strong governance and accountable institutions.”
President Ruto noted that Africa possessed unique advantages that must be fully harnessed to position the continent as a source of scalable solutions rather than a repository of persistent challenges.
The Nairobi meeting represented an opportunity to move beyond dialogue to coordinated action, encouraging African leaders to form synergies to achieve a common health purpose.
Professor Axel Pries, the President of the World Health Summit, noted that the Nairobi meeting reflected the growing importance of Africa in shaping the global health agenda.
“Our role is to convene leaders from across sectors and regions, and the goal is clear: to translate dialogue into practical action that strengthens health systems regionally worldwide,” he said.
Professor Lukoye Atwoli, International President of the World Health Summit Regional Meeting, and Dean, Medical College East Africa, at AKU, stated that for too long, Africa had been the subject of global health discussions held elsewhere, by others.
“Today, with delegates from more than 50 countries gathered on African soil, we are asserting something fundamental: that African institutions, African researchers, and African policymakers are not consumers of global health policy, we are its co-authors,” he said.
Prof Atwoli expressed optimism about the event, moving the continent from the language of intention to the architecture of implementation.
Dr Sulaiman Shahabuddin, President and Vice Chancellor, Aga Khan University, acknowledged that challenges remained in Africa, including climate change, chronic diseases, lack of financial resources, digital divide, and inequity.
Those challenges, he said, would have to be overcomed, adding: “but I see a sector [in Africa] more capable than ever: better positioned to integrate systems, harness technology, and train the workforce needed for quality care and ethical leadership.”
“This Summit marks a historic first and offers the kind of collaboration required to meet the challenges of the moment,” said Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
He said the themes being discussed were deeply interconnected and would result in a blueprint for a new Africa, reflecting a shift from addressing individual challenges to building a coherent health ecosystem.
Madam Mary Muthoni, the Principal Secretary, Public Health and Professional Standards, Kenya, said global health security was not a luxury but a prerequisite for national stability, urging leaders to move from reactive crisis management to proactive pandemic preparedness.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention emphasised the growing role of African institutions in shaping the continent’s health security agenda.
“Africa’s health security and sovereignty depend on our ability to finance and build resilient systems at scale,” said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
He said the summit provided a critical platform to move from dialogue to action, mobilising investment, strengthening partnerships, and advancing African-led solutions that reduced dependency and expanded access to quality health care.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
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