HEALTH | CARE | SYSTEMS 

Health experts taking part in the African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) in Kigali, Rwanda have emphasized the urgent need for government leaders to involve communities in healthcare systems.

Prof. Francis Omaswa, the founder of the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST), stated that the health system needs to reach people where they live and where they work.

“Health is about people and if people are not involved then something is missing,” Prof. Omaswa said.

Speaking while launching the call to action for civil societies on Wednesday at the Kigali Convention Centre, Moses Mulumba, the founding director general of Afya na Haki, said “community engagement is important because we are working for communities, how can you work for people who don’t know what you’re working on, and how can you work to whom you don’t understand what they need”.

The biennial conference is jointly convened by Amref Health Africa, Rwanda’s ministry of health, the African Union and Africa CDC.

It was convened under the theme Resilient Health Systems for Africa; Re-envisioning the Future Now.

Some of the participants attend a session during the 5th African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) in Kigali-Rwanda on Wednesday. (All Photos by Violet Nabatanzi)

Mulumba said that even when the health unit management communities at the national level are supposed to be spaces where communities air out their views, politicians instead hijack them and the needs of the communities go unheard.

He said such units are supposed to be informing budgets, health policies and decisions at the community level, adding that all these things are missed when communities are not participating.

Mulumba said the call to action will enable civil societies to have a shared platform and work together at the regional level.

“How do we engage with the African Union? How do we engage at the sub-regional level? This platform will be a useful way where we share information, and capacities but also share resources to be able to work more effectively.

“This will avoid unnecessary competition knowing that they are working on the same goal but also be more accountable and share tools that will help us to be more accountable to the communities we serve,” he explained.

Dr Githinji Gitahi, the group Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa, called upon civil society to be accountable to the people they serve.