{"id":124210,"date":"2025-11-05T18:03:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T18:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/smart-aid-still-matters-as-africa-ramps-up-domestic-health-financing\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T18:03:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T18:03:54","slug":"smart-aid-still-matters-as-africa-ramps-up-domestic-health-financing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/smart-aid-still-matters-as-africa-ramps-up-domestic-health-financing\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart aid still matters as Africa ramps up domestic health financing"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 5 \u2014 As donor funding for Africa\u2019s flagship health programmes declines, African leaders are pushing for greater self-reliance anchored in domestic resource mobilisation, even as they stress that targeted external support remains critical.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the Africa Health Systems Forum hosted by Strathmore Business School\u2019s PRISM Centre with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, policymakers, financiers and health experts examined how to protect hard-won gains in maternal and child health, HIV, TB, malaria and primary health care amid tighter global budgets and waning trust in multilateral health systems.<\/p>\n

Under the theme \u201cResilience in Transition: The Case for Sustainable Health Financing and Africa\u2019s Way Forward,\u201d participants highlighted a dual track: expand country-led financing while maintaining catalytic aid to strengthen data, disease surveillance, AI applications, locally led R&D and manufacturing, and regulatory capacity.<\/p>\n

Dr Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary, State Department for Medical Services, said steady and predictable funding must be built on domestic resources. \u201cMany people don\u2019t appreciate the input of health in driving countries and economies, in terms of productive populations and lost man hours\u2026 If you look at health as an economic imperative then you begin to see the opportunity cost of failing to invest in it,\u201d he said, outlining a two-pronged approach centred on taxes and insurance contributions.<\/p>\n

Speakers tracked the evolution from aid-led models to country-driven systems and explored efficiencies through service integration and better supply chains. With major replenishments on the horizon, delegates pointed to mechanisms such as Gavi and the Global Fund as essential to sustain routine immunisation and programmes against HIV, TB and malaria, even as governments raise domestic outlays.<\/p>\n

Trust emerged as a recurring theme. Dr Kanyenje Gakombe, Chair of the Kenya Healthcare Federation, called for rebuilding \u201ctrust capital\u201d between public and private actors to unlock investment: \u201cCapital is shy, and business likes predictability. If there is too much noise in the sector and lack of trust\u2026 we cannot unlock the capital or efficiency gains we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

On partnership design, Dr Elizabeth Irungu, Regional Technical Advisor for Implementation Science at Jhpiego, said aid should be catalytic, not a substitute for public investment. \u201cThere is no country that can be entirely self-sufficient\u2026 When we talk about self-sufficiency we should also be talking about how we work with our partners,\u201d she noted, urging more disciplined use of domestic systems.<\/p>\n

Dr Ahmed Ogwell, President and CEO of VillageReach, pressed for faster execution using African capabilities already in place. \u201cDelivering health care is beyond money\u2026 There are many resources we have\u2014institutions, experts, infrastructure, innovations\u2014that we hesitate to use because they don\u2019t fit the model the world looks at as the gold standard,\u201d he said, adding that calls for health sovereignty must translate into concrete action and efficiency.<\/p>\n

Institutions represented included the Ministry of Health (Kenya), Council of Governors, Kenya Healthcare Federation, Palladium, Jhpiego, World Bank, NASCOP, National Syndemic Disease Control Council, CHAK, KEMRI\u2013Wellcome Trust, the Gates Foundation, Financing Alliance for Health, VillageReach, Savannah Global Health Institute, Beginnings Fund, and Pfizer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 5 \u2014 As donor funding for Africa\u2019s flagship health programmes declines, African leaders are pushing for greater self-reliance anchored in domestic resource mobilisation, even as they stress that targeted external support remains critical. At the Africa Health Systems Forum hosted by Strathmore Business School\u2019s PRISM Centre with support from the Bill & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}