Africa and Europe strengthen the AU-EU health partnership

Around 20 delegates from the European Union and the African Union, including 15 countries and 11 continental institutions, meet today in Pretoria to affirm action-oriented collaboration in the lead-up to the AU-EU Summit.

Wednesday, November 5 – Pretoria, South Africa.

Today, guided by the principles of equity, security, and resilience, African and European delegates reaffirm their wide-ranging partnership on health as part of their annual high-level steering meeting, laying the groundwork for deeper cooperation ahead of the AU-EU Summit in Luanda, Angola (November 24-25, 2025) and marking the next phase in the broader 25-year AU-EU collaboration (#AUEU25).

The high-level steering meeting on the AU-EU Health Partnership brings together key continental, regional, and national stakeholders, including an expected 30 delegates representing 15 countries and 11 continental institutions. The meeting is hosted by South Africa’s Ministry of Health at the Faculty of Health Science at the University of Pretoria and is co-chaired by H.E. Amma Twum-Amoah, AU Commissioner of Health, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Development of the African Union Commission; H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention; Mr. Martin Seychell, Deputy Director-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), European Commission; and Ms. Heidy Rombouts, Director-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Development Cooperation.

“The AU-EU Health Partnership is more than a collaboration; it is a shared commitment to health security and health sovereignty,” states Dr. Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC Director General. “Health sovereignty means a reformed global health architecture that centers countries and recognizes regional entities, sustainable health financing, data sovereignty, African manufacturing of health products, and of course, strong pandemic preparedness and response systems. Together, we can make this a reality.”

The overarching objectives of today’s meeting are ensuring strategic alignment, informing and building consensus on health priorities and identifying areas of convergence around global health architecture and health financing. Specifically, Africa and Europe reaffirm their commitment to advancing Universal Health Coverage through sustainable, country-led health financing and building on Africa’s leadership, the joint roadmap set by the Lusaka Agenda, the Seville Financing for Development Conference, the “Accra reset,” and the AU-EU Innovation Agenda. Together, both continents are charting a new era of global health diplomacy — one that strengthens domestic investment, promotes equity, and ensures resilient health systems for all.

“Health is central to the ambitions of Africans and Europeans,” states H.E. Ambassador Javier Niño Pérez, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the African Union. “Ahead of the AU-EU Summit in Luanda, we share the commitment to keep health high on the global agenda in alignment with the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy. No one is healthy unless everyone is healthy. The European Union will continue to be a reliable partner to Africa, also in this domain.”

Since 2021, Africa and Europe have accelerated their partnership on health through five interconnected thematic areas: manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies (MAV+); sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); sustainable health security using a “One Health” approach (HSOH); digital health for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage (DH); and support for public health institutes (PHI). This work builds on the trusted clinical research partnership between Africa and Europe (Global Health EDCTP3) that has been running since 2004. The multilateral and mutually beneficial approach to tackling health issues is delivering results, including stronger regulatory systems at the continental and national levels and the delivery of Team Europe donations of mpox vaccine doses to address the outbreak in Africa. Together, the two continents are working to ensure that all Africans can access safe, effective, and affordable medicines and vaccines quickly. (See Annex 2 for more examples of achievements so far.)

Looking ahead, delegates foresee a number of potential key milestones in the cross-continental partnership related to global health diplomacy, strengthening the collaboration, and joint coordination of key initiatives, including:

Launching additional twinning between African and European public health institutions, including collaboration between continental disease control institutions for wastewater surveillance at airports and ports in Africa (Africa CDC-DG HERA), starting the 2nd phase of the ECDC-Africa CDC partnership, and building on the partnership between the continental regulatory agencies (AMA-EMA)
Launching a new program with Africa CDC to support capacities for prevention, detection, and control of AMR and development of a “One Health” workforce
Increasing digitization of primary health care in four additional countries and launching a regional program for public health institutes in 10 countries
Kicking off continental and regional pooled procurement of medicines and vaccines, including a focus on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) commodities, through the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) and Regional Economic Communities
Supporting African manufacturers in receiving the first African Vaccines Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) payments for locally produced vaccines
Convening the Pharmaceutical and Pricing Reimbursement Information Network in Africa (PPRI Africa) to bring together public authorities in Europe and Africa to learn about pricing and reimbursement policies and to benchmark implemented mechanisms
Implementing harmonized sub-regional SRHR scorecards for the regional economic communities EAC, SADC, and ECOWAS/WAHO to track services, legal reforms, and gender-based violence, guiding AU-EU dialogue
Increasing access to finance through innovative mechanisms like the continental blended finance facility and the Human Development Accelerator (HDX) supported by the EU in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Gates Foundation

“This meeting shows how far the strategic partnership between African Union, Africa CDC and the European Union has come,” states Heidy Rombouts, Director-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Development Cooperation. “Together, there is a strong willingness and commitment to continue building on the AU-EU Global Health Partnership’s foundations and to develop even more mutually beneficial partnerships in health. It has been an honor for Belgium to co-chair these fruitful discussions alongside our African and European partners.”

Africa and Europe will take this momentum forward to the AU-EU Summit from November 24-25 in Luanda, Angola.