President Ruto calls for reinvention of healthcare in Africa to improve healthcare

While speaking during the opening of the  World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026, President Ruto noted that Africa carries over 25% of the global disease burden, yet accounts for less than 3% of global health expenditure. 

He added that Africa is still heavily dependent on external supply chains for medication and vaccines, producing less than 2% of what Africans consume.

"This imbalance is neither sustainable nor tenable. It calls for a decisive and deliberate shift- from fragmented, piecemeal interventions to comprehensive, system-wide transformation- anchored in coherent strategy, financed through both domestic and international capital, and sustained by strong governance and accountable institutions," he said.

He urged stakeholders and leaders to harness the continent's unique advantages, including its youthful population, a rapidly expanding digital infrastructure, and a vibrant culture of innovation, to achieve permanent change.

The Head of State believes that this can be achieved through coordinated investments, policy alignment, and institutional strengthening.

He boasted the success he believes has been achieved through his administration's Universal Health Coverage programme, which he says has created a unified financing model that expands risk pooling, reduces out-of-pocket expenditure, and ensures access to quality healthcare.

Through the Social Health Authority (SHA), Ruto noted that nearly 30.7 million Kenyans have registered on the platform since its launch in October 2024.

"In the same period, we have collected Ksh.169 billion ($1.3 billion) across the Primary Healthcare Fund, the Social Health Insurance Fund, the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, and the Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund, and paid out Ksh.124 billion ($954 million) as reimbursements to facilities for care provided," he added.

He therefore urged Africa to position itself at the forefront of biotechnology and advanced research by investing in genomics, vaccine development, and local manufacturing ecosystems, to transition from a consumer of innovation to a producer of globally relevant solutions. 

For this to be successfully achieved, he said that deliberate choices must be made, including increasing domestic health financing, strengthening local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, investing in the training and retention of health professionals, and ensuring that digital innovation serves as a tool for inclusion rather than exclusion.