The High-level event on the EU-AU partnership in Global Health for Equitable Access, which took place on 20th March 2024, shows the continued prominence of health in the EU-AU partnership. As many speakers pointed out, the pandemic was a “wake-up call” which highlighted the urgent need to step up investments in, and strengthen, health systems on both continents, thus embedding equity, human rights, access and solidarity at the heart of health cooperation.
As civil society organisations working to promote global health, we are encouraged to see the EU and AU stepping up their cooperation in the area of health, including by launching a series of joint flagship Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs). This momentum cannot be lost and health must remain a key political priority of the next mandate of the European Commission.
Following these declarations, the ball is in the EU’s court to transform this partnership of declarations, ambitions, and good intentions into a meaningful one, to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the objectives of SDG3, and to attain the right to health which remains elusive for millions of people.
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