Egypt confirms its firm commitment to supporting African health security to confront the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic

Egypt renews its full support for efforts to enhance health security on the African continent, based on the awareness of the importance of joint action in confronting health challenges that transcend the borders of countries, and expanding the scope of cooperation and exchange of experiences in a way that contributes to building health systems more capable of responding to crises.

This trend reflects the extension of the Egyptian role in supporting African issues, by contributing to strengthening health capabilities and developing cooperation mechanisms that place protecting people’s health at the top of development priorities.

The importance of this role increases with the growing need to move from temporary response to crises to building sustainable health preparedness capable of dealing with risks before they escalate, which requires the integration of African efforts, the localization of knowledge and scientific research, and the strengthening of national capabilities in the areas of prevention and response.

Therefore, Egypt’s support for African health security represents part of a broader trend towards more effective partnerships that increase the continent’s ability to confront epidemics and protect its people, and give it a greater role in shaping the future of the global health system.

African support to address health challenges

In this context, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population and Co-Chair of the High-Level African Ministerial Committee on Reforming the Global Health Architecture, affirmed Egypt’s firm and supportive position for sister African countries in facing common health challenges.

This came during his speech via video conference technology, at the committee meeting in the presence of Dr. Jean Cassia, Director-General of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and an elite group of African health ministers and representatives of international health organizations.

The Minister conveyed a strong message of solidarity from the Egyptian state to the governments and peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, expressing Egypt’s deep appreciation for the strenuous efforts made by health sector workers on the front lines to confront the outbreak ofEbolaand other epidemics.

Moving to the sustainable preparedness phase

He also stressed the need for the African continent to move from the stage of receiving reactive aid during crises to the stage of sustainable preparedness and possessing capabilities and solutions, explaining that the current response to epidemics represents a real test of the global health infrastructure, as the strength of systems is measured by the ability to transform preparedness into quick measures and effective coordination that protects lives in times of danger.

Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar stressed Egypt’s full support for conducting clinical trials and generating scientific evidence with pure African leadership, stressing the need to build clinical research capabilities in advance.

This trend is consistent with the third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): good health and well-being, by strengthening the capacity of health systems to prevent and respond to health risks and protect lives.

Financing mechanisms and partnerships to enhance health security

Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar touched on the financing file, noting that preparedness to confront epidemics cannot be separated from the presence of sustainable and predictable financing mechanisms, calling for exploiting the ongoing discussions on reforming the global health infrastructure, including reviewing the financing mechanisms of the World Bank and multilateral development banks, to enhance the ability to protect African health security.

On a related level, field developments in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirm the importance of this proposal, in light of United Nations warnings of a decrease in funding available for life-saving activities, and the limitation of available resources to a few weeks, which threatens to slow down the response to the outbreak and make controlling it more difficult and expensive. This reveals that sustainable financing represents a supporting element for the health response, and is one of the basic conditions for Africa to have a real ability to act quickly before the repercussions of epidemic crises expand.

Strengthening financing mechanisms and international cooperation is also linked to the seventeenth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): establishing partnerships to achieve the goals, in a way that supports building partnerships more capable of providing the necessary resources and expertise to enhance African health security.

Equity in access and driving the future of global health

The Minister highlighted the global system for access to pathogens and benefit-sharing, declaring Egypt’s full support for the common African position and the negotiating red lines, approved by the Ministerial Committee, and stressing that the rapid sharing of genetic information for epidemics must be coupled with fair access for African countries to medical countermeasures, technology transfer and fair sharing of benefits as a fundamental issue of equity and trust.

He concluded his speech by calling for building an Africa that is ready and able to emerge from crises stronger, stressing the need for the continent’s role to include participation in global health decisions, as well as to lead the shaping of the future of this system.

In conclusion, the Egyptian vision for supporting African health security reveals that confronting epidemics begins with the ability to build systems that prepare before danger, and possess the knowledge, scientific research, cadres, and funding that allow them to transform preparedness into quick measures in times of crisis.

Hence the call for Africa’s transition from receiving reactive aid to possessing capabilities and solutions acquires its true meaning. Health security is measured by its ability to protect lives, reduce response time, and prevent health crises from turning into broader crises.

TheThe Earth Guards Foundation highlights the Egyptian efforts that support African health security, and through this approach, Egypt places the African partnership in a more profound position, to become a means of building an independent African capacity to confront risks and shape the future of the global health system. When sustainable financing is coupled with scientific research, equitable access to technology, and the exchange of information with trust and fairness, Africa transforms from a party waiting to respond to a partner capable of setting its priorities, defending its interests, and leading decisions that affect its health security.