The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on an African Parliamentary High-Level Conference to strengthen health security preparedness.
This conference aims to provide a forum for Parliamentarians from national parliaments in Africa to exchange ideas, build political support, strengthen capacities, and foster coordination in driving sustainable action for global health security. Additionally, the meeting will enhance the role of Parliamentarians in strengthening health security and building health system resilience for the future of their countries.
In his opening remarks, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said that health emergencies significantly impact human health, livelihoods, national economies, and development. However, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weak global preparedness towards public health threats and the inequity in the global economy in terms of pandemic commodities including vaccines and simple PPEs.
According to him, it is the responsibility of countries to ensure core public health capacities are in place to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks and health emergencies and to set the foundation for a resilient health system to enable the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
He mentioned that Parliamentarians have a role in promoting health and health equity and they must strive to bridge inequities in access to health care within the populations they serve.
He urged Parliamentarians to continually strengthen mechanisms for partnerships and multisectoral collaborations; increase advocacy to invest in health systems for health security; and explore ways of making better use of innovative approaches and new technologies for data collection, analysis, and timely information sharing.