With foreign aid dwindling, African countries must prioritise disease prevention, vaccine production, and improved community healthcare to manage rising health costs and deadly disease burdens.
As foreign aid to Africa declines, countries across the continent are being forced to reassess how they fund and deliver healthcare. In an article for The Conversation, Professor Francisca Mutapi of the University of Edinburgh outlines three cost-effective strategies to help African nations shift from crisis response to sustainable, preventative healthcare.
The continent continues to battle high rates of infectious diseases alongside a growing burden of non-communicable conditions such as diabetes and cancer. However, weak health systems and limited domestic funding threaten access to treatment. Professor Mutapi argues that prevention, not cure, is the path forward. She recommends investing in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to curb common infections; boosting local vaccine production for diseases like HPV and neglected tropical diseases; and expanding community health services to include non-communicable disease prevention.
Improving WASH infrastructure alone could have prevented over 500,000 deaths in Africa in 2020. Meanwhile, scaling up vaccine access can reduce both health and economic burdens. By integrating prevention into local healthcare delivery, African nations can reduce costs and achieve long-term resilience. As Professor Mutapi concludes, prevention is not just better for health—it’s essential for economic survival in the face of funding cuts.
