Africa-Press – Eswatini. Eswatini has once again been selected to host a high-level African health summit involving the East, Central and Southern Africa countries.
The summit is scheduled for August 3-7, 2026 at Ezulwini according to a communication from East, Central and Southern Africa Community. Government, through the Ministry of Health, has confirmed the selection to host this important meeting through social media platforms.
“We are excited to have been selected to once again host another ECSA-HC, the – & , where policymakers, experts, and innovators come together to advance health security, innovation, and sustainability across the region,” reads the statement.
Countries expected to take part at this important gathering include Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Eswatini assumed the chair of the East, Southern and Central Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) conference following the 76th Health Ministers Conference held in Ezulwini from January 30 to February 5, 2026. The conference brought together regional and international delegates to deliberate on priority health challenges and regional cooperation.
The high-level meeting was attended by dignitaries from the region including former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete; Director General of ECSA-HC Dr Ntuli Kapologwe, and Eswatini Deputy Prime Minister Thuli Dlala who demonstrated political commitment to advancing universal health coverage in the region. The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, was represented by Dr Susan Tembo, the WHO Country Representative for Eswatini.
In his remarks, Dr Kikwete called on countries to diversify health financing by engaging nontraditional donors, including nonstate actors, in response to declining traditional donor support. He emphasized the importance of African-led solutions and highlighted the value of platforms such as the ECSA-HC conference for exchanging ideas and developing practical responses to shared health system challenges. Traditional donors, including non-state actors, in response to declining traditional donor support. He emphasized the importance of African-led solutions.
In the lead-up to the main conference, delegates participated in two parallel pre-conference meetings; one on strengthening action against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the ECSA region and another on health financing and optimizing investments in health systems. Dr Ambrose Talisua, health financing team lead at WHO’s African Union Liaison Office, was a panellist in the health financing meeting and WHO Eswatini participated in the AMR meeting.
Technical discussions on AMR focused on approaches to elevate AMR as a political and public health priority, drawing lessons from HIV and TB advocacy as models for mobilizing national support. Recommendations from the dialogue were presented to plenary on the final day for ministerial endorsement and submission to the 5th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR, scheduled for June 29–30, 2026 in Abuja, Nigeria.
A key moment at the conference was WHO’s launch of the “Scaling Innovations in Public Health Systems: Guidance and Toolkit,” an evidence-based framework to support governments to transition successful pilot innovations into system-wide adoption. The toolkit reinforces the importance of country ownership, demand-led innovation and strengthened public sector leadership. It also provides clarity on government roles in coordinating partners, engaging private-sector innovators and applying mission-oriented approaches to address complex cross-sector health challenges.
Dr Kapologwe stressed the urgency of scaling proven interventions, noting that building resilient health systems requires full implementation of evidence-based WHO guidelines.
Speaking on behalf of Dr Janabi, Dr Tembo reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to support Member States to strengthen all all-hazards capacities anchored in health systems strengthening and resilience. “We will continue to support the adoption and implementation of evidence-based legislation, policies, standards and guidelines that strengthen emergency preparedness and health system performance and we will support countries to incorporate the latest global guidance into their national contexts,” said Dr Tembo.
During the ministerial deliberations, Member States committed to strengthen access to quality-assured antimicrobials, diagnostics and vaccines, and to explore pooled procurement mechanisms to increase purchasing power. Ministers also underscored the need to promote local and regional manufacturing where feasible to enhance supply resilience, affordability and sustainability. Participants emphasized the important of sustainable financing, with commitments to integrate AMR priorities into national budgets and routine financing mechanisms.
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