Africa Health ExCon 2023 Highlights: Day 1

(Cairo, Egypt) - Held under the patronage of H.E. President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the first day of the 2nd edition of Africa Health ExCon Conference was concluded.

On the sidelines of the first day, the Unified Procurement Authority signed an MOU with Bristol Myers Squibb for developing performance and efficiency in the field of health innovation assessment.

Further, another MOU was signed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche for promoting healthcare services provided for hepatic disease in Egypt.

It is worth noting that Major General Bahaa El Din Zidan, Head of UPA had a meeting today with Dr. Carla Visotti on the sidelines of the Africa Health ExCon exhibition and conference.

During the first day, various conference sessions took place, including a session entitled “Public Health: The Time is Now for the African Medicines Agency to Deliver on its Promise.” The session witnessed the presence of senior officials and subject-matter experts, including Dr. Khaled Abdul Ghaffar, the Minister of Health and Population, Dr. Adel Adawi, former Health Minister and Chairman of Scientific Committee of 2nd “Africa Health ExCon, Dr. Maha El Rabbat, Former Minister of Health and Professor Public Health at Cairo University, Amb. Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Dr. Awad Tag El Din, Health Presidential Advisor, and Olive Shisana, South Africa Presidency.

The panelists highlighted that Covid- 19 pandemic exposed the fragility of the African health system: yet it supported t the continent with new perspectives. First, there is a need for cooperation between African countries, identifying solutions to health challenges related to vaccine shortage, and girl-child marriage. They also highlighted the necessity of providing the required health fund to harness the general healthcare systems in Africa.

One of the specialized sessions is a session entitled “Nephrology: Dialysis” which brought together Dr. Hisham El-Sayed, Professor of Nephrology at Ain Shams University, and Head of the Hemodialysis Department at the African Society of Nephrology (AFRAN), Prof. Abdou Niang, AFRAN SEC. The session was moderated by Dr. Mohamed Hani Hafez, AFRAN President and Professor of Medicine& Nephrology.

On the other hand, a session entitled “Advancing Women's Health in Africa - Are Africa's Health Systems Responsive to the Health Needs of Women in Africa witnessed the presence of Noha Salem, the Global Women's Health policy lead at Organo and Chairperson for the Coalition for Women Health in Africa (COWHA), Mohammed Fawzi Regional Business Manager at Hologic, and Dr. Muthoni Ntonjira, Health Systems Leader, Eastern Africa at Philips.

During the day, a session entitled “ Genetics: Molecular Oncology” hosted Dr. Hussein Khaled, Honorary Professor of Oncology at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, and Dr. Mohamed Hassani, Executive Director of the National Committee for Combating Viral Hepatitis (NCCVH) at the Ministry of Health and Population, and Dr. Neamat Qassem, Consultant Clinical Pathologist (Immunology - Blood - Molecular Biology) at Kasr Al-Ainy Oncology Department (Namruk) - Faculty of Medicine - Cairo University, and Dr. Wissam El-Sisi, Professor of Kidney Surgery, Urology, and Andrology.

The panelists also discussed several current trends in the treatment of oncological diseases and cancers, and how to use genetics to identify the treatment.

During a session entitled “Increasing Africa's Resilience in Manufacturing Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics, the participants emphasized the suffering of low-income African countries from limited access to medicines at an affordable price, with the presence of Dr. Riad Armanious, CEO of Eva Pharma, Dr. Daniella Munene, Head of External Affairs at Africa Health Business (AHB), and Dr. Amit N. Thakker, Executive Chairman of AHB.

This is in addition to the “Medical Research: Environmental Health” session, with the participation of Eng. Lydia Eliwa, on behalf of Eng. Sherif Abdel Rahim, Head of the Central Department for Climate Change at the Environmental Affairs Agency, Prof. Fajr Abdel-Gawad, Deputy Director of the Centre For Environmental Studies and Application for Climate Change, and Prof. Dr. Ashraf Shaalan, former Head of the National Research Center.

Africa Health ExCon will take place from 6 to 9 June 2023, in the international presence of 90 countries. The event will host more than 1200 keynote speakers.

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