Government leaders forum

Theme: “Investing in Global Health, Investing in Africa's Future”. 

Health was on the agenda as leaders from nearly 50 African countries gathered in Washington in early August  2014 for the first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit, intended to expand trade and investment, encourage sustainable development and enhance cooperation on peace and security.  One of the key sessions, was titled "Investing in Health: Investing in Africa's Future."  The program opened with the note that "Africa is on the rise" and that public health is the anchor of economic health and individual well-being, in Africa and elsewhere.  African leaders agreed that investing in healthcare, education and medical research is a high priority and that partnerships "are crucial". The 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) Cancer Report describes the growing global burden of cancer as alarming, a major obstacle to human development and well-being, with a growing annual economic cost of ca. US$ 2.0 trillion. The report also highlights major global cancer disparities, with over 60% of 14 million new cases and 70% of 8.2 million deaths per year occurring in low and middle income countries like in Africa, some of which countries, sadly, are the least capable of dealing with cancer without some form of collaboration. Emerging consensus at the USA-Africa summit was that Investing in health is not only the right thing to do, to reduce suffering/death from disease. It also results in economic returns. This Global Health Catalyst summit recognizes the need to engage government leaders and ambassadors to address the growing burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases in a sustainable way. Working together, Ambassadors, Ministers of Health and stakeholders in North America and Europe including government leaders and the resource-laden diaspora  can transform global health,  saving millions of lives. 

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Tentative list  of some of our powerful speakers/panelists: