Health Policy Watch: African Union pushes for greater domestic spending on health amid reports of huge disruptions to HIV and TB services
The African Union held a summit to urge member states to increase domestic health spending to 15% of national budgets, focusing on HIV, TB, and maternal health. The meeting addressed concerns over global service disruptions following changes to the U.S. PEPFAR program.
Why it matters
Shifts in international health funding policies have direct consequences for public health outcomes in developing nations.
The African Union (AU) held a special health summit on 21-22 July, primarily aimed at mobilising high-level political support for more domestic health spending – particularly on HIV, TB and maternal health.
The summit coincided with the release of two new studies reporting on the huge disruptions to HIV and TB treatment throughout the world following the Trump administration’s changes to the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Leaders who addressed the AU summit urged African states to implement the Abuja Declaration decision, adopted 25 years ago, to allocate at least 15% of national budgets to health.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in