The East Africa Region Global Health Security (EARGHSS) 2025 Summit took place in Mombasa, Kenya from 28 to 30th of January 2025, convened by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Kenya Association of the Coastal Counties, and the Kenya Vision 2030. In the lead up to the conference, WHO and Africa CDC later joined as co-conveners, given the important role of these two institutions in the management of health emergencies on the continent. Africa Public Health Foundation (APHF) was represented by our Interim CE Dr. Francisco Songane, through an invitation by the Kenya Vision 2030.
The purpose of the summit was to discuss how the countries in the East Africa Region would prepare for future emergencies, building on the experience and the lessons learned during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other epidemics that occurred simultaneously.
Dr. Songane was one of the speakers on the panel addressing the topic, “Financial Instruments for Sustainable Preparedness” where he gave an introduction of APHF and our role and active involvement in the COVID-19 response-key figures about the resources mobilized, and what was delivered on the ground. He also talked about APHF’s adjustment after the transition from the emergency mode, highlighting the new strategy and our innovative ways of operation. Dr. Songane gave an insight into the impact of the activities funded through grants managed by APHF, with emphasis on the community level and shared some of our success stories
As a way forward, he suggested that APHF could be a platform for the interface among different players and proposed the creation of a regional pooled fund to cater for contributions coming from non-state actors, mainly philanthropic organizations and the private sector.
Dr. Songane had an opportunity to engage with several stakeholders and, key among them, was Dr. Lucy Mazyanga, Director of the Africa CDC Regional Coordinating Centre (RCC) for East Africa to assess the practical aspects for delineating joint action as a contribution to the response to the call for resource mobilization.
