By Emily Carter, Account Director, McCann Global Health
In early March, I attended the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC), the continent’s largest health and development gathering. Convened by AMREF Health Africa with partners including Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, WHO, Africa CDC and the African Union, it brought together nearly 2,000 participants in Kigali for four days of sessions, strategy, and yes, even organized walks. At AHAIC, we walk the talk.
Africa’s health future is being written by Africans
As external aid shifts, highlighted by the suspension of USAID funding, the message was clear: "Don’t agonize, organize!" The momentum is shifting from "health for Africa" to "health by Africa."
Localization was a central theme, with calls for African-led solutions, community-driven planning, and local innovation and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Healthcare campaigns need to be co-created with local partners, informed by local insights and amplified by trusted voices, including community health workers, youth, mothers, chiefs and religious leaders.
We must invest in prevention
Across sessions on primary care, vaccines and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), one message rang out: prevention yields the greatest return. That includes investing in primary health care, vaccines, nutrition and clean water.
Marketers have a key role to play in driving prevention narratives. Messaging around screenings, healthy living and immunizations must be bold, constant and tailored to diverse audiences. New tools, like Serum’s malaria and meningitis vaccines, offer hope, but rollout will require strong communication, especially as global funding tightens.
NCDs: A growing health threat
NCDs now account for 37% of deaths across Africa.1 By 2045, 75% of adults with diabetes will live in low- and middle-income countries.2 Pharmaceutical companies and their charitable foundations are stepping in. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is expanding work on diabetes and metabolic health, focusing on human resources in health, while Roche is working with partners to increase access to breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment. Communications must support these efforts by bringing the human story to the forefront. We must create campaigns that humanize data, spotlight survivors and break down stigma, especially around cancer and mental health. NCDs will take center stage at the United Nations General Assembly this fall, and we urgently need this momentum and focus.
Health tech and AI offer tremendous opportunity for Africa, but equity remains an issue
Innovation is accelerating, from AI diagnostics to drone deliveries, but a plenary poll revealed many still distrust "Made in Africa" health solutions. As communicators, we must shift this narrative and elevate the real impact of African innovation: faster care, broader access and locally built tools. Rwanda, for instance, has just 15 radiologists. The Minister of Health noted that AI can help them better serve 14 million people by rapidly analyzing medical images and prioritizing urgent cases, one example of the potential of tech to close care gaps.
Meanwhile, Africa holds the richest genetic diversity on the planet, yet less than 3% of global genomic data is African. Roche’s African Genomics Program, set to sequence over 50,000 African genomes, is helping close this gap.
Climate change is a health agenda
Two-thirds of health-climate indicators are at record highs, according to Dr. Marina Romanello of the Lancet Countdown, who spoke about the urgent need for systems to adapt during a plenary session. Communications must make the crisis tangible and help drive action. That means turning abstract data into relatable stories: what air pollution means for a mother in Nairobi, or how extreme heat affects daily life. Communicators must frame climate not just as an environmental concern, but a pressing health emergency.
References
1 Noncommunicable diseases
2 Diabetes facts and figures
