Africa must own its health crisis

Prof Lukoye Atwoli said the summit would create a platform to speak about Africa's contribution to the global health environment.[File,Standard]

Health experts meeting in Nairobi have warned that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise.

The experts, who are attending the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026, say African countries treat cancer care and treatment as an expense, not an investment. This mindset has left patients to shoulder the burden of treatment, which many can ill afford. 

Nearly 75 per cent of patients in Africa pay for healthcare out of pocket. Cervical and breast cancers make up a large share of cases, yet many are detected late or treated inadequately. The human cost is huge, and governments have themselves to blame for allowing it to reach this point.

NCDs are on the rise for obvious reasons. Rapid urbanisation has brought sedentary lifestyles, triggered an exponential rise in processed foods, tobacco use and alcohol consumption, all of which are known drivers of cancer, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. 

Pollution, both industrial and domestic, adds to the risk factors. Though, as experts warn, some cancers are hereditary and predispose individuals to breast, colorectal and other cancers, most of the cancer cases are lifestyle-related, hence preventable. 

Scientists have warned that unhealthy eating, physical inactivity, smoking and infections such as HPV and Hepatitis B are responsible for the majority of diagnoses. That so many cases across Africa are caught at advanced stages reflects a failure of prevention and screening systems. 

Africa’s overdependence on donor funding for its health dates back decades. Governments found it easy to let foreign financing carry what domestic budgets should have. Health ministries drew up their programmes around aid flows rather than planning. When the money flow stops, as it inevitably does, the programmes collapse. 

The withdrawal of USAID funding exposed Kenya’s vulnerability. Family planning services were disrupted, HIV treatment strained, and community health infrastructure left hanging. A country cannot claim to be serious about the health of its citizens when a policy shift in Washington unravels its healthcare system.

African countries must rethink their healthcare priorities. African governments must meet and exceed the Abuja Declaration commitment of allocating 15 per cent of national budgets to health, a target that most have not attained. Community Health Promoters, already doing critical preventive work at the grassroots, must be properly employed, remunerated and integrated into national health systems. 

Donor-funded projects must align with government priorities rather than running as parallel, fragmented programmes that vanish when grants expire. Prevention, as often said, is cheaper than a cure. Early detection saves more lives than advanced treatment can. 

These ideas are not new ones; they have simply been overlooked by government functionaries who prefer ribbon-cutting functions at referral hospitals to investing in primary care for their citizens. Africa, no doubt, has the resources. What is lacking to make things move is political goodwill.