Addis Ababa, August 25, 2026 (FMC) — Africa must play a more decisive role in shaping the global health agenda rather than simply adapting to priorities and reforms designed elsewhere, Ethiopian President Taye Atske-Selassie said.
Addressing the 76th Session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Addis Ababa, President Taye said Africa is at a pivotal moment as the continent confronts unpredictable health financing, geopolitical instability, disease outbreaks, climate pressures and conflicts that disrupt essential health services.
He said these challenges should also serve as an opportunity for Africa to strengthen its collective voice, deepen regional cooperation and take greater ownership of its health architecture.
“Africa must be able to shape its own agendas by itself,” President Taye said, stressing that the continent should not simply adapt to reforms designed elsewhere.
He said Africa possesses both the potential and the determination to safeguard the health and well-being of its people, but needs a clear and bold unified strategy to translate that potential into greater influence in global health affairs.
President Taye emphasized the importance of stronger coordination among African and international health institutions, particularly through complementary roles for the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
He said the WHO’s global technical leadership and Africa CDC’s continental mandate should reinforce one another, with country-led implementation at the center and parallel systems avoided.
He also called for stronger strategic solidarity among African countries, urging the establishment of practical mechanisms to enable countries to rapidly share expertise, laboratory capacity and emergency supplies when neighboring countries face health emergencies.
President Taye said the need for such solidarity has become increasingly evident as developing countries remain vulnerable to disruptions in external support.
He further urged Africa to strengthen its collective voice on the intersection of climate and health, pointing to Ethiopia’s preparations to host COP32 in Addis Ababa in 2027 as a major opportunity.
He said Africa should arrive at the global climate conference with a unified position that places climate resilience, health systems and adaptation financing at the center of international policy discussions.
President Taye also stressed that international cooperation remains indispensable, but said the strongest partnerships are those that reinforce national leadership, strengthen domestic institutions and empower countries to sustain their own priorities.
Citing the Accra Reset and its emphasis on stronger country ownership, he said global assistance should better support national and continental visions rather than determine them.
President Taye said Africa’s next health chapter should be defined by “ownership over dependency, integration over fragmentation, and practical action over words,” calling on governments and regional institutions to translate shared priorities into measurable results for the continent’s people.