In her opening remarks, Minister of Health Dr. Mekdes Daba explained that the forum is a platform for African ministers to exchange experiences and reach consensus on how to work together; she explained that the conference focused primarily on reproductive health issues.
Dr. Mekdes recalled that Ethiopia has invested heavily in reproductive health; thus, it has been able to reduce maternal and child mortality and improve the overall health system. The Minister said that African countries should work to make Africa self-sufficient in the health sector by increasing local production; She added that the financial gaps encountered should be addressed by mobilizing domestic resources and working in partnership with partners.
The Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, also said that sustainable development cannot be achieved without reproductive health; she pointed out that African countries should increase the budget allocated to family planning. She also outlined the challenges faced by reproductive health in Africa and outlined a solution.
At the forum, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between AUDA-NEPAD and ChAI to enable the production of 24 priority medicines in Africa; the AUDA-NEPAD annual report was presented and discussed by the participants of the forum.
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