CCA Releases Roadmap for the Health Security and Resilience Initiative

By Laird TreiberLast December, CCA announced the formation of the U.S.-Africa Health Security and Resilience Initiative (HSRI). This two-year initiative is designed to bring together U.S. and African leaders, corporations and other stakeholders to collaborate on improving African health outcomes in disease management, universal health coverage and trade and investment. HSRI members are pleased to release a Roadmap for the initiative that spells out initial targets and objectives for each of these areas, while also highlighting ways to help build the capacity of African health systems and boost adoption of digital tools.Even before COVID, Africa faced more health challenges than any other continent. Countries were coping with challenges from HIV/AIDS and malaria, rising rates of non-communicable diseases and niche diseases like Ebola, all with the lowest number of trained medical staff per 1000 people of any continent. The COVID crisis has highlighted previous challenges, while also exposing shortfalls in global supply chains that left African countries short first of PPE and now vaccines, while also leading to the first recession in 25 years.This set of challenges also provide a unique opportunity. African countries already relied on the private sector to provide solutions for roughly 40% of the overall health sector, and COVID has only made collaboration between governments and companies that much more important. The Roadmap highlights some of the most important factors:Over the next decade, Africa will become the world’s second most important health care market, behind only the U.S., with 14% of the global health market. Driven by a young population and a growing middle class, Africa’s health market is forecast to be worth an estimated $259 billion by 2030. Some of the biggest opportunities will come in risk pooling, improving maternal and child health, better disease management and telehealth.Private sector investment will be critical to increasing Africa’s ability to manufacture the vaccines and equipment that it needs to reduce its dependence on outside suppliers in future crises. The African Union has already set the goal of Africans producing 60% of the medicine they use by 2030. The U.S. and its partners have already announced support for investments in South Africa’s Aspen pharmaceuticals as an early step towards that goal.Improving access to digital solutions will play an important role in delivering better health outcomes at lower cost, expanding access for millions. Africa has already seen the greatest number of innovations of any continent in the digital space over the last year, many of which have come in the telehealth sector.HSRI has set up working groups on disease management, universal health coverage and trade and investment that have already begun looking at the main issues in each area, and identifying areas for collaboration to deliver better solutions. HSRI draws from an incredible mix of small companies operating in critical niches to large international companies, both American and African, from Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Gilead, Medtronic and Abbott, to University Research Co, the Bizzell Group, Medland Health Services, Palladium and PATH. The Initiative is already seeing real dividends from applying different perspectives on specific challenges that is fostering new solutions to important challenges. The July 27-29 U.S.-Africa Business Summit will explore several of the most important themes in more detail, including access to vaccines and developments in the digital delivery of health.Click hereto view CCA's Health Security and Resilience Initiative Roadmap.