Tunisia Calls for Innovative Financing Mechanisms and Consolidation of African Pharmaceutical Sovereignty
Tunisia, which holds the presidency of the North Africa region in health matters, has called for the establishment of innovative financing mechanisms and the consolidation of African pharmaceutical sovereignty, on the occasion of the 39th Ordinary Summit of the African Union. The Minister of Health, Mustapha Ferjani, participated in the parallel events organized as part of the summit, including the high-level dialogue on health financing and health security, held from February 12 to 15 in Addis Ababa, in the presence of several African health ministers and international technical and financial partners. Invited by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the minister also attended the meeting of the Regional Steering Committee (ReSCO), which brings together representatives from different regions of the continent. Tunisia chairs the North Africa region. During his intervention, and in line with the orientations of President Kaïs Saïed, Mustapha Ferjani reaffirmed Tunisia's commitment to strengthening health security in Africa. He highlighted the need to intensify local production of medicines and vaccines in order to reduce external dependence and ensure equitable access to treatments. The minister also emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation with the Africa CDC and the African Medicines Agency, with a view to harmonizing regulatory standards and ensuring the quality of pharmaceutical products on the continent. In the same context, he advocated for increased sharing of expertise and development of skills for the benefit of African countries, based on an integrated approach founded on the principle "One Africa, One Health". Finally, the Tunisian official proposed the creation of a coordination coalition between the main actors in the health sector, accompanied by a monitoring and evaluation dashboard, in order to ensure the effective implementation of recommendations within specific deadlines. This participation confirms Tunisia's positioning as a committed actor in the consolidation of a more resilient, autonomous, and solidarity-based African health system.
