Baroness Chapman speech outlining the UK's commitment to a modern partnership with Africa, priorities on health security, sovereignty and multilateral reform.
Hon. President of the Comoros, Ministers, Dr Jean Kaseya
Excellencies. Distinguished guests. Friends.
Thank you for welcoming me so warmly.
Today's gathering reflects a truth Africa has understood for generations. That health is everything.
It is the backbone of national prosperity. Because we cannot invest in our future without investing in the health of our people.
That's why the UK is supporting your priorities. And we want to do this in a way that works for you.
I want to begin by recognising your hard work in building health systems and changing people's lives for the better.
Ethiopia is showing what is possible with its Health Extension Program.
Nigeria is carrying out major reform to improve the strength and resilience of its health system.
Ghana's steady, long-standing work on community health and financing has set a benchmark which I know many others have since built on.
Your African-led reforms lay the foundation for the strong continental institutions we see setting the health agenda today.
Institutions here at the African Union are bringing together your collective strength in a way that wasn't possible a generation ago: institutions - the African Union Development Agency, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and soon the African Medicines Agency.
The African Union's vision of a healthy, prosperous and resilient Africa by 2063 - seen in the Accra Reset and Lusaka Agenda - is reshaping global health.
It is a privilege to be invited to speak alongside you and start by acknowledging the leadership you're showing across the continent.
In Senegal, in Nigeria, in Rwanda, and here in Ethiopia, we are seeing long-term investments over short-term fixes.
So as your guest here, I am clear about the UK's role. We're here to support, not to steer.
To stand alongside you, supporting your country systems.
Over the last twenty years, we've seen some of the most inspiring gains in human health in Africa. More children growing up shielded from preventable diseases. More people protected from dangerous outbreaks. And real progress in access to vaccines and treatment.
But as we have heard, there is so much more to do.
The truth is that COVID‑19 showed us the cracks in the system.
It showed that supply chains aren't fair, manufacturing can't keep up, and that no country, no matter how wealthy, could ever face a crisis like that on its own.
But COVID-19 also showed Africa's extraordinary scientific and public health capability.
New manufacturing initiatives expanded genomic surveillance, and rapid innovation have shown that the challenge was not just about capacity, but also about investment, access, and equity.
We now stand at another critical moment today.
As Africa CDC tells us, disease outbreaks in Africa increased by 40% between 2022 and 2024.
Climate shocks, fragile supply chains, and persistent inequalities place health systems at risk.
And there is less development available - with a 70% drop in external health aid to the continent since 2021.
We have heard today that universal health care cannot be imported. But amid all this change, we need to keep pushing.
It is a moment to shape something stronger, more sustainable, and fit for the future.
So how do we get there? I believe we must focus on six priorities.
First, we must treat health as an investment, not a cost.
Political commitment matters, but every country, including the UK, has to back it with resources and better financial management.
Second, as the Minister of Health from Zimbabwe said, external funding should complement, never replace - or displace - domestic finance and national priorities.
That's why the UK is calling on all partners - especially Global Health partners like Gavi and the Global Fund - to get behind one national investment plan for health. So we are backing those funds with UK money, but pushing them hard to reform so they work better for you.
Third, we must make the most of the huge expertise in African institutions. Because we deliver the most when governments, scientists, and communities design solutions together.
We have seen this over the past two decades with huge reductions in HIV in many African countries through the Global Fund model of in-country partnership.
We see that in our work on cross‑border preparedness, on manufacturing at Institut Pasteur de Dakar, and in our new support to Africa CDC. We now need to see that across the whole health system.
Fourth, in response to what I've just outlined, the UK is changing the way we work with you.
We're focusing our bilateral support on the technical expertise that you've told us you want, sharing knowledge both ways, working together and learning as much as we offer.
For example, in Malawi, our partnership with the Government helped develop the first specialty training programme for public health professionals.
And UK health advisers are supporting nine countries to bring funds behind national priorities to achieve the most impact from global health funding.
Fifth, we must also reform the global health system - to match your ambitions.
Let me be blunt - the current model is fragmented, siloed, and dependent on donors. It comes from another era.
As national and regional capabilities grow, the global system must become more coherent, more supportive and less directive. Country-led approaches must set the terms, not adapt to them.
Finally, a strong health system needs strong foundations, and those foundations include sustained financing. One without the other simply doesn't work.
Our work with South Africa on last year's Global Fund replenishment - against a tough backdrop of less donor finance - shows our support to health financing in practice.
We are proud to have co-led this first ever G7-Global South-led Global Health replenishment.
And the UK is joining you in working to modernise the international financial system.
This means doubling development bank lending and bringing in more private investment.
And it's why, in December, we co‑chaired the African Development Fund replenishment with Ghana, the largest in its history and a clear vote of confidence in Africa's leading financial institution.
So, taken together, I am confident these priorities can be the beginning of a new era. A new partnership.
A future in which Africa is shaping in global health system but not just participating in it.
As President Mahama of Ghana said when he launched the Accra Reset at Davos last month: "Unity should not be a slogan; it must be the strategy… a global partnership of the willing, based on a shared vision and mutual respect".
This is a vision and an approach we as the UK wholeheartedly share.
So it's an honour to have had the chance to speak at this event today.
And I want to assure you this is how we will work together.
As your guests- who respected and learn from each other.
As you partners - who support your plans and policies.
And as your friends - who work together for the health and happiness of our people.
Thank you.
