By Omar Bah
The Gambia is positioned to benefit from a pivotal initiative aimed at enhancing healthcare in low and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organisation and multilateral development banks have unveiled a $1.5 billion primary health financing platform that will operate in The Gambia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Jordan, Maldives, Morocco, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Zambia.
This partnership is part of the newly established ‘Health Impact Investment Platforms,’ designed to strengthen primary healthcare systems in vulnerable and underserved communities, thereby bolstering resilience against pandemic threats like monkeypox and the impacts of climate change. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, emphasised the importance of primary health care as “the most equitable, cost-effective, and inclusive way to improve health and well-being”, highlighting its role in disease prevention and early outbreak detection.
The ‘Health Impact Investment Platform’ is described as a ‘vital source of new financing’ that will support the development of climate-resilient primary health care systems. The platform will collaborate with the governments of the participating countries to formulate national health strategies that align with their specific health needs.
The agreement was formalized during a high-level roundtable meeting in New York, attended by the founders of the initiative, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Initial contributions, including a 10-million-euro investment from the EIB and WHO, set the groundwork for the funding plans, with further commitments
