BRIDGING THE HEALTH FINANCING GAP IN AFRICA

Michelle Akande, Vice President of Global Access Financing at Pfizer outlines why building connections across the global health community and developing new solutions has never been more important, especially for Africa.

We are living in an era of unacceptable juxtapo-sitions. In 2015, a report about the frontiers of longevity postulated that a child born then could live to 142 years. On the other hand, life expectancy in the lowest ranked 10 countries in the world ranges only between 55 and 60 years. Even where life expectancy is getting longer, people aren’t necessarily getting healthier, which means facing many years lived in poor health.

Scientific breakthroughs, an important part of closing this gap, are accelerating at an unprecedented rate. However, access remains a challenge to some of the most underserved populations globally. Access is being compounded by several immediate and longer-term mega trends including the economic consequences of COVID-19, the food crisis caused by the ongoing war with Russia and Ukraine, and the triple burden of disease–often referred to as the culmination of communicable diseases, the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases, and emerging globalization related conditions like pandemics and the impact of climate change on health.

The pharmaceutical industry will continue to be a key player in advancing scientific discoveries whilst also helping to equalize access to quality healthcare. At this inflection point in human history, that responsibility has never been more critical. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, there is an estimated gap of $370 billion annually on health spending in frontier countries, which includes African countries, if the Sustainable Development Goal target is to be met by 2030. The Global Impact Investment Network (GIIN) tells us that, of the estimated $500 billion annual global social-impact investment, Africa receives only 1.6% yet it has 23% of the global disease burden and is home to 16% of the world’s population.