February 17, 2020//-With the population of Africa expected to reach 2.4 billion in 2050, healthcare-related issues have never been more urgent.
While the continent is home to 17% of the world’s population, it carries 25% of the global disease burden and has only 2% of the world’s doctors.
Less visible than epidemics such as Ebola, malaria or HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases are increasingly a cause for concern in Africa. For example, the number of adults with diabetes on the continent has risen from just under 15 million in 2010 to nearly 20 million in 2018.
In light of these developments, and convinced of the central role the private sector has in fighting these diseases, the AFRICA CEO FORUM has teamed up with Sanofi to launch the “Innovating for Health in Africa” initiative.
By getting all healthcare ecosystem stakeholders, including business leaders, insurers, infrastructure developers, investors, financiers and ministers, to make a long-term commitment to further an agenda focused on the transformation of healthcare on the continent, the initiative seeks to shine a spotlight on best practices and enable all private sector players, which already account for 50% of Africa’s healthcare service providers, to effectively strengthen their involvement in coordination with countries.
For the 2020 edition, to be held on 9 and 10 March in Abidjan, the forum is organising, in partnership with Sanofi, a high-level panel, a roundtable discussion on public-private partnerships and a Q&A session with the most influential leaders in the healthcare sector.
Like its “Women in Business” and “Family Business” initiatives, which promote gender diversity in Africa’s largest companies and foster the sustainable growth of the continent’s family businesses, respectively, the launch of the “Innovating for Health in Africa” initiative resonates with the forum’s mission of offering concrete solutions and making the private sector’s voice heard on the continent’s major development challenges.
Instructively, Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. It is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health.
It prevents illness with vaccines, provide innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. We stand by the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions.
With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe.
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