Statement By H.E. Dr. Mustapha S. Kaloko Commissioner for Social Affairs at the Opening Session of the Ministers’ Meeting 6th Ordinary Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Health (CAMH6), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 April 2013

Protocol
Let me seize this opportunity to first and foremost welcome you all to the African Union Commission and to this 6th Ordinary Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Health. Thank you for responding to our invitation and taking time off your busy schedules to attend this important Session. I know how busy you are and how you need to respond quickly to the health needs and challenges affecting the people of our dear continent. The theme of this 6th session ‘The Impact of Non-Communicable Diseases and Neglected Tropical Illnesses on Africa’s Socio Economic Development’ is timely for two reasons.

Firstly, we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the OAU/AU under the theme: “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance”. The anniversary provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the health of our people over the past 50 years, our achievements and challenges and look forward to the next 50 years as to what kind of Africa we want for our children’s children.

Secondly, January 2013 marks the first anniversary of the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases - a coordinated effort by endemic countries, non-governmental organizations, drug companies, and donor-partners to improve the lives of more than a billion of the world's poorest people by the end of the decade. Significant percentage of this billion is in Africa. More than a year after the London Declaration, can we say that we have mobilized enough resources and taken concrete steps towards tackling neglected tropical diseases? This conference presents an appropriate opportunity to find answers to such questions and to explore new ways of confronting NTDS.

Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Africa continues to grapple with a myriad of challenges affecting its citizen’s health status, bearing a disproportionate 24 percent of the global burden of disease yet deploying only about 3 percent of the global health workforce. Regardless of the progress recorded among Member States in addressing these challenges, Africa continues to lose women in childbirth, the mortality due to HIV and malaria remains the world’s highest and now compounded by the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases not to mention the impact of neglected tropical diseases.

Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The African Union recognizes Health as an integral component of development and seeks to address it both from the point of view of improving the quality of life of the population and also for its critical contribution to sustainable and equitable socio-economic development in Africa.

We believe that access to health is a fundamental human right for all and is dependent upon availing all communities with the information and systems to promote good health in addition to comprehensive and affordable basic health services.

Leadership on the continent is determined more than ever before to ensure that the negative trend of the health status does not continue. We are committed to strengthening accountability systems and enhancing our management for results. Member States will be supported to increase access to integrated, comprehensive and cost effective health care services tailored to cultural sensitivities. Increased effort will be made to motivate member states to increase resource allocation to the health sector to guarantee a solid domestic resource base in the face of dwindling and unpredictable external assistance.

We are at a transition where as we continue to battle the challenge of communicable diseases, we are confronted by an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, while the neglected tropical illnesses continue to pose significant threat.

Clearly it is time for us as African to take ownership and evolve appropriate solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting the continent. We cannot deny that progress has been made over the years with regard to the health status of Africans; we only now need to evaluate our strategies and reinforce action.
As we mark 50 years of our existence as a continental organization, the leadership of our union is determined to ensure that the African Renaissance is characterized by an improvement in the quality of life of all Africans, irrespective of social status, creed or tribe. We will commit ourselves to addressing those issues, such as instability that underpin our vulnerability as a continent. We must ensure that the next 50 years usher in a period of growth and socio-economic well-being in an Africa at peace with itself.

I cannot end my speech without appreciating the significant support received from our Development Partner’s across the continent. We will continue to value their cooperation while insisting that the development assistance programmes be aligned to continental and national priorities as articulated in the Paris Declaration and reinforced by the Bussan Declaration. There is no better time to strengthen that partnership to improve health and socio-economic development outcomes in Africa than now. However, as leaders, we must invest more of our domestic resources in health because investment in health is an investment in economic development.

Let me end by reaffirming AUC’s readiness to play its role in ensuring coordination and harmonization of all efforts to achieve our desired goals on the continent even as we look forward to presenting Africa’s input into the ongoing global discussions and processes for the post- 2015 development agenda.

I wish you a very fruitful deliberations and thank you for listening.