By Atoyebi Nike
The Executive Vice President for Diagnostics in Africa at Roche Diagnostics, Dr. Allan Pamba, has urged global leaders to prioritise African-led health solutions as the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convenes in New York.
In a statement issued on Friday, Pamba warned that Africa’s health future cannot be secured through external dependence but must be anchored in sustainable partnerships, co-creation, and local ownership.
Pamba emphasised that African governments must take “custody of their own destinies” by designing, funding, and delivering health services that reflect local realities. He noted that recent crises, including funding shifts, pandemics, and political instability, have exposed the fragility of many health systems across the continent.
He added that health systems are strongest when built through trust and shared responsibility, involving ministries of health, industry, civil society, and communities.
On financing, Pamba stressed the need for innovative, predictable, and locally anchored models. “Global commitments will always be part of the picture, but they cannot be the whole picture. For too long, external dependency has left essential services in Africa vulnerable to shifting global priorities,” he said.
He clarified that sovereignty does not mean rejecting international collaboration, but rather recalibrating partnerships to strengthen Africa’s leadership. “At its heart, sovereignty means that partnerships and financing mechanisms must strengthen Africa’s leadership, not replace it,” he said.
Pamba concluded that UNGA presents an opportunity to push for financing models that move beyond temporary fixes to deliver long-term, resilient healthcare systems in Africa.
