KENYA – Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has been appointed as the Chairperson of the East, Central, and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) Conference of Health Ministers.
The appointment was made during the 71st ECSA-HC Health Ministers Conference held on 8th-9th February 2023 in Lesotho.
In her acceptance speech, Nakhumicha expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to lead the ECSA-HC in its efforts to improve health services and attain the highest possible standards of health for citizens across the region.
She acknowledged the challenges faced by member states in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and called for continued collaboration to build resilient health systems.
“I am honored to take up the Chair of the Health Ministers Conference on behalf of the Republic of Kenya,” the CS said.
“As we take up this chairmanship, we keep in mind the objective for which ECSA-HC was established including the need to maintain cooperation among member states for the improvement of health services and implementation of activities that will contribute towards the attainment of the highest possible standards of health.”
She emphasized the importance of timely contributions from member states to maintain the financial stability of the ECSA-HC and called for support in resource mobilization efforts to address various health challenges in the community.
She also committed to working with other member states and the ECSA-HC secretariat to put into practice the lessons learned and address the challenges hindering the attainment of the 2030 health targets.
The CS took time to highlight Kenya’s efforts to strengthen its health systems taking lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Learning from the pandemic, Kenya has taken several measures to strengthen its health systems,” she said.
“We have established the Kenya Biovax Institute to manufacture vaccines, taken steps to enhance local manufacturing, improved diagnostic capability and strengthened cross-border surveillance and collaborations, and strengthened the health workforce and community systems.”
She commended the outgoing Chairperson, Zimbabwean Minister of Health Constantino Chiwenga for his leadership during a challenging period occasioned by the pandemic.
“Indeed, the pandemic has underscored the need for us to collaborate and work together because we are as strong as our weakest member. We have a clarion call to work together to build our health systems to achieve universal health coverage and be able to respond effectively in times of epidemics and pandemics,” she added.
The Health Ministers Conference is the highest governing body of ECSA-HC which meets annually to review policy matters, national health strategies and to define regional health priorities.
The 72nd Health Ministers Conference will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, along the sidelines of the 76th World Health Assembly from 21 – 30 May 2023.
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