President Obama welcomed leaders from across the African continent to Washington, D.C. August 4-6, 2014 for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. The Summit highlighted the depth and breadth of the United States' commitment to the African continent, advanced shared priorities and enabled discussion of concrete ideas to deepen the partnership.
Health Signature Event | Science & Health | Science & Health Resources
U.S. Africa Leaders Summit Health Signature Event
African leaders participated in a full program of events, including a health signature event:
Investing in Health: Investing in Africa's Future
August 4, 2014
Senior U.S. government officials, African leaders, Ministers of Health and senior health policy makers met at the National Academy of Sciences for the event "Investing in Health: Investing in Africa's Future." Together they discussed the future of U.S.-African global health partnerships in achieving global health security, promoting science and health, reaching an AIDS-free generation, and ending preventable child and maternal deaths.
The discussion highlighted the decades-long U.S.-African health partnership that has saved and improved millions of lives. It also offered an opportunity for U.S. and African leaders to agree on how we can further advance our shared health and development goals through our strong partnerships.
Photo by Richard Lord
for Fogarty/NIH
Photo by James Pursey / Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Photo courtesy of CDC Global Health
Science and Health
One of the most effective means for the United States to work in partnership with our African colleagues is to build the knowledge, skills and scientific collaborations required to improve the health of African populations, cultivate a vibrant academic research enterprise, stimulate growth of biomedical industries and generate economic development.
Important components of this strategic aim are:
- Strengthen health systems
- Incorporate research by local investigators into the design and implementation of health interventions
- Build interdisciplinary skills by training a new cadre of leaders
- Realize the potential of information and communications technologies
- Link data at local, district and national levels
- Speed translation into practice
- Strengthen the foundation for public-private partnerships
Building Expertise, Infrastructure
Developing knowledge and human capacity to improve health care and research over the long term.
Using Science to Improve Aid Efforts
Providing evidence to inform decision making for health program implementation.
Supporting Research, Disease Surveillance
Forming research partnerships to identify outbreaks and discover new cures for diseases.
U.S. Government Science and Health Resources
Health and Human Services, Office of Global Affairs (OGA)
The Office of Global Affairs (OGA) serves as the primary point within HHS for setting priorities for international engagements and developing and strengthening relationships with USG agencies, foreign ministries of health, multilateral partners at headquarters and in the field, and with civil society and the private sector.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducts and supports a broad range of global health research and training in Africa. NIH-funded studies have laid the groundwork for combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic through scientific discoveries made with African partners that show antiretroviral drug adherence is possible, male circumcision helps limit the spread of disease, treatment as prevention is effective, and other important advances. In addition to infectious disease research, NIH is supporting studies of chronic, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which pose a growing health threat in Africa.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advances global health by improving disease surveillance, implementing evidence-based policies and providing training to build health capacity in Africa and other low-resource settings. The agency has worked with country health ministries to establish laboratory networks, create health information systems and strengthen workforce capacity.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of International Programs manages the agency's efforts to build scientific capacity to improve the quality and efficacy of drugs in the global market. Preventing counterfeit anti-malarial drugs that could lead to drug resistance is one priority.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. USAID's new global development lab seeks to discover, test and scale breakthrough solutions to improve global health.
Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator
The Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) consults with the science and development agencies to build global research capacity and implement evidence-based policies and practices to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Updated January 25, 2017