The Pan-African Parliament has urged African governments to fulfill their long-standing commitment to allocate at least 15% of their national budgets to the health sector, warning that inadequate domestic financing continues to leave the continent vulnerable to public health emergencies.
In a resolution adopted on Tuesday, lawmakers reaffirmed the 2001 Abuja Declaration and called on African Union member states to establish statutory emergency funds, strengthen health financing, and improve preparedness to respond to future disease outbreaks.
The Parliament noted that recurring health crises, including HIV, Ebola, COVID-19, mpox, Marburg and cholera, have exposed weaknesses in Africa’s health systems, including limited emergency funding, slow procurement processes and poor coordination.
Lawmakers also urged governments to domesticate Africa CDC frameworks into national laws, accelerate ratification of the African Medicines Agency Treaty, strengthen legal frameworks for public health emergencies, and enhance cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to improve disease prevention, pandemic preparedness and local production of medical products.
