A leading African public health expert, Dr. Mayaka Ma-Nitu, has raised the alarm that Francophone Africa is growing increasingly vulnerable to health emergencies due to chronic underfunding, dwindling donor support and weak domestic investment in healthcare systems.
Speaking on the deepening crisis in health financing across the continent, Dr. Ma-Nitu said French-speaking African countries remain the most exposed because they continue to rely heavily on international funding for essential health programmes while struggling to mobilise sufficient domestic resources.
She cautioned that the current financing model threatens the sustainability of critical interventions against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, as well as routine immunisation.
“Years of public health gains could be reversed if urgent action is not taken,” Dr. Ma-Nitu warned. “Shrinking international assistance, coupled with rising fiscal pressures on African governments, has left many health systems unable to prepare for future pandemics or respond effectively to existing challenges.”
The expert stressed the need for governments to increase budgetary allocations to health, strengthen national health insurance schemes, and develop innovative financing mechanisms to reduce dependence on foreign donors.
She also called for stronger regional cooperation, arguing that countries with similar health and economic challenges should pool expertise and resources to build more resilient healthcare systems.
Dr. Ma-Nitu’s warning comes as African leaders and development partners intensify discussions on sustainable health financing amid growing concerns over reductions in development assistance.
At a recent Extraordinary African Union Summit in Accra, Ghana, leaders called for greater domestic investment in health, warning that declining donor funding could undermine decades of progress against HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
Public health experts note that health financing is no longer just a budgetary issue but a strategic investment in national security, economic growth and human development. Countries with stronger primary healthcare systems and sustainable financing are better positioned to withstand disease outbreaks and public health emergencies.
Despite the 2001 Abuja Declaration, in which African governments committed to allocating at least 15 per cent of national budgets to health, only a handful of countries have met the target. The financing gap has left many nations battling inadequate infrastructure, shortages of healthcare workers, limited access to medicines, and high out-of-pocket spending by households.
Against this backdrop, Dr. Ma-Nitu’s intervention adds to growing calls for African governments to prioritise domestic resource mobilisation, improve efficiency in health spending, and build resilient systems capable of delivering universal health coverage without excessive dependence on external assistance.
