Africa is accelerating a sweeping shift toward domestic health financing as donor support for the continent’s health systems collapses, with official development assistance plunging 70 percent since 2021.
Confronted with rising outbreaks, severe funding gaps, and mounting global uncertainties, African governments, under the leadership of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), are moving to strengthen self-reliance through a new Health Security and Sovereignty (AHSS) agenda that aims to end decades of dependence on foreign aid.
The new framework, outlined by Dr. Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC director in a Lancet comment, marks one of the most far-reaching responses to the post-pandemic decline in global health financing. It seeks to reposition the continent from vulnerability to resilience at a time when disease outbreaks have surged by 41 percent between 2022 and 2024 and climate pressures are intensifying health risks.