1 September 2023, Gaborone, Botswana
During the 73rd WHO Regional Committee for the AFRO Region meeting that was held at Gaborone, Botswana, African Ministers of Health discuss HeDPAC. The meeting took place on 1 September 2023 and aimed to seek their perspective and view on the vision, mission, and priorities of the Initiative. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Health of the Republic of Rwanda, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana and the speakers were the Minister of Health and Wellness of Barbados, Dr. Jerome Walcott and the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti as well as Dr Haileyesus Getahun who coordinates the initiative. In his opening remark Dr Walcott explained the basis for the partnership, based on the shared experiences faced by both regions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons learned. He reiterated that HeDPAC will be built on opportunities and existing institutional structures between the two regions and elaborated on the progress made so far. Dr Moeti in her part commended the Governments of Rwanda and Barbados for their efforts to establish the partnership, which she said would be mutually beneficial to both regions. She expressed her commitment to support the Partnership and further highlighted ongoing initiatives in the African continent that will further enrich HeDPAC. She concluded by calling on the participating countries to explore the possibility of expanding this partnership in terms of its scope and geographic coverage and urged them to use the partnership as an opportunity to harmonize their positions on important global issues such as climate change and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response so that that they can speak with one voice.
Presenting the details of the partnership Dr Getahun, highlighted that the partnership will focus on three areas, namely human health workforce, resilient health systems and Local manufacturing of medical products. He also elaborated that guiding principles for HeDPAC will be alignment with existing national and regional structures and plans as well as catalyzing cross-regional synergy and coherence and promoting partnerships.
The Health and Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC) is a new initiative championed by Their Excellencies the Heads of Government of Rwanda and Barbados to forge cross regional partnership between the regions of Africa and the Caribbean and to strengthen South-South collaboration and promote institutional capacity in health. It also aims to strengthen the standing of both regions within the global health architecture. HeDPAC’s Vision focuses on Achieving Universal Health Coverage for the people of Africa and the Caribbean.
Participants of the meeting welcome the vision, mission, and priorities of HeDPAC. They called for more concrete action and exchanges in medical education between the two regions, the inclusion of research as a main area of cooperation. It was also suggested that HeDPAC should consider public health information exchange between the two regions and the involvement of health labour unions from both regions in drafting any bilateral health workforce agreements. Participants also shared experiences from similar initiatives, such as the South-South collaboration between the Government of Brazil and the African Union and called for the involvement of such initiatives in HeDPAC deliberations. In his response, Dr. Getahun thanked the participants for their suggestions and assured them that their views would be considered in the finalization of the partnership. He reiterated that the partnership will not duplicate but build upon existing efforts and initiatives.
The high-level side event was attended in addition to Ministers of Health by WHO country representatives, stakeholders, civil society, and representatives of the United Nations agencies.
