REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR AFRICA Fifty-sixth session Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006 RESOLUTION
AFR/RC56/R5 1 September 2006 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
HEALTH FINANACING: A STRATEGY FOR THE AFRICAN REGION (document AFR/RC56/10) The Regional Committee, Cognizant of the finding of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health that poor health contributes significantly to poverty and low economic growth; Aware that investments in health yield substantial returns in terms of poverty reduction and economic development; Recalling resolutions AFR/RC52/R4 on poverty and health, AFR/RC53/R1 on macroeconomics and health, and the World Health Assembly resolution WHA58.30 on accelerating achievement of the internationally-agreed health-related development goals; Recalling the pledge made by Heads of State in Abuja in 2001 to allocate at least 15% of their national budgets to health; Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA58.33 urging Member States to ensure sustainable financing mechanisms; Recalling the resolution of ministers of health of the African Union (Sp/Assembly/ATM (1) Rev.3) on health financing in Africa that renews their commitment to accelerate progress towards achieving the Abuja and Millennium Development Goal targets; Appreciating the support being provided under international initiatives such as the Highly-Indebted Poor Countries; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Global Health Research Fund; the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization; Roll Back Malaria; Stop TB; and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; 1. 2. ENDORSES the document entitled “Health financing: a strategy for the African Region”; URGES Member States: (a) to strengthen leadership capacities of ministries of health and re-enforce their collaboration with ministries of finance and labour as well as other relevant ministries and stakeholders;
AFR/RC56/R5 Page 2 (b) to strengthen or develop comprehensive health financing policies and strategic plans and incorporate them into national development frameworks such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks; to fulfill the commitment made by African Heads of State to allocate at least 15% of their national budgets to health; to strengthen the national prepaid health financing systems, including financing structures, processes and management systems; to strengthen capacities for generating, disseminating and using evidence from health financing in decision-making;
(c) (d) (e)
3. REQUESTS the Regional Director, in collaboration with the World Bank, other multilateral and bilateral funding agencies, and public and private funding bodies: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) to make available regional guidelines for developing comprehensive health financing policies and strategic plans, and for monitoring and evaluating their implementation; to provide technical support to Member States, as appropriate, for developing tools for and methods of evaluating different practices in health financing; to create networks and mechanisms to facilitate the continuous sharing of health financing experiences and lessons learnt; to support health financing research, the dissemination of findings therefrom and their use in decision-making; to report on implementation of the strategy every two years. Fifth meeting, 30 August 2006