Minister Aaron Motsoaledi: Third High-Level Steering Meeting on the AU–EU Health Partnership

Third high-level steering meeting (HLSM) on the AU-EU Health Partnership
5 November 2025, School of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria

Professor Flavia Senkubuge, Dean, School of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria
H.E. Ambassador of Angola to South Africa
Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO, AUDA-NEPAD
H.E. Dr Delese A. A. Darko, Director-General, African Medicines Agency (joining online)
H.E. Amma Twum-Amoah, AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Development (joining online)
H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC
Mr Martin Seychell, Deputy Director-General, European Commission (INTPA)

Distinguished delegates, colleagues, and partners, it is indeed a pleasure to welcome you all to South Africa for this Third High-Level Steering Meeting of the AU-EU Health Partnership. This meeting represents more than a continuation of dialogue - it is a reaffirmation of our shared vision: to build resilient, equitable, and self-reliant health systems that serve all our people.

Since the first and second High-Level Meetings in Addis Ababa and Brussels respectively, the AU-EU Health Partnership has evolved into a platform for real policy coordination and technical cooperation. It bridges Africa's New Public Health Order and the EU's Global Health Strategy, aligning two powerful agendas toward one objective, namely, a healthier, more sovereign, and more secure Africa.

Ladies and gentlemen

Our partnership rests on a clear understanding that global health security and equity are interdependent. Neither Africa nor Europe can thrive in isolation. Through frameworks such as the Global Gateway and the Africa-Europe Investment Package, the EU has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainable health development, from strengthening health systems to supporting local manufacturing and digital innovation.

From the African side, the New Public Health Order calls for bold actions in the following areas:

• Strengthening our continental and national public health institutions;
• Building and retaining a skilled health workforce;
• Expanding local manufacturing capacity;
• Increasing domestic investment; and
• Promoting equitable and action-oriented partnerships.

Today's meeting is therefore not just a forum for discussion but a platform for co-creation, to ensure that Team Africa and Team Europe move together, with shared accountability and measurable results.

The five thematic workstreams of this partnership that are going to be discussed today are central to our shared goals. South Africa is fully committed to operationalising these workstreams. However, the critical question we must address today is:

• How can the AU-EU Health Partnership most effectively translate political commitments into concrete, sustainable actions that strengthen Africa's health sovereignty, accelerate local manufacturing and innovation, and ensure equitable access to essential health services for all our people by 2030?

In my view, for this partnership to achieve tangible impact and advance Africa's Vision 2030 aspirations, it must translate political commitments into practical action that responds to our continent's priorities. Therefore, I would like to propose the following strategic shifts:

Manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines, and health technologies

Africa seeks to move from dependency to self-reliance. We should all recognise that strengthening local manufacturing hubs, supporting technology transfer, and facilitating equitable access to essential health products are central to regional resilience and health security. Partnership success will be measured by our ability to produce, distribute, and sustain essential health commodities within Africa.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

Progress in this area is fundamental to social development, gender equity, and the dignity of our citizens. Our partners should align with Africa's agenda by supporting culturally and contextually appropriate interventions, ensuring access to comprehensive services, and reinforcing local capacity to implement sustainable programmes.

Health security and One Health

Africa's priority is to prevent future pandemics while addressing the interconnections between human, animal, and environmental health. Investments in surveillance, early warning systems, and cross-sectoral collaboration are not optional but critical to realising health security and achieving long-term resilience.

Support to public health institutes

Strong, autonomous public health institutions are the backbone of Africa's health system. This partnership can contribute effectively by supporting governance, capacity building, and research partnerships, while respecting African leadership and priorities in setting agendas, ensuring that knowledge generation is locally relevant and translated into policy.

Digital health

Innovation must be inclusive, bridging urban-rural divides and ensuring no one is left behind. This partnership should prioritise collaborations that strengthen digital infrastructure, interoperable systems, and skills transfer, while supporting Africa-led initiatives that enable citizens to benefit directly from technological advances in health service delivery.

In summary, the success of this partnership should ensure that all interventions strengthen Africa's capacity to deliver universal health coverage, build resilience, and advance self-reliance.

South Africa stands ready to contribute experience and leadership in these areas, particularly in vaccine manufacturing, digital health transformation, including accelerating universal health coverage through a primary health care approach, and achieving universal health coverage through health financing and financial protection.

Let me share a few key areas where South Africa's ongoing health reforms are directly aligned with the objectives of the AU-EU Health Partnership:

Pillar 1: Self-reliance and domestic financing

South Africa remains steadfast in its pursuit of self-reliance and domestic financing to ensure sustainable, sovereign health systems. By prioritising domestic resource mobilisation, we have been able to reduce dependency on external donors, strengthen policy autonomy, and secure the continuity of essential health services across all levels of care.

We believe that the National Health Insurance (NHI) should be the primary solution to achieve UHC and combat healthcare commercialisation. The NHI in South Africa is a mechanism for equitable risk-pooling to protect people from financial hardship, a core aspect of health system resilience.

Pillar 2: "Financialisation" of healthcare

We should actively resist the financialisation of healthcare, which prioritises profit-driven models and risks inequitable access and inflated costs. This trend sees healthcare needs increasingly commodified through financial products, with payment models incorporating financial incentives and healthcare financing entities engaging in investment activities.

While proponents argue that private capital can fill financing gaps and improve efficiency, it poses significant risks to the fundamental principles of UHC. The prioritisation of profit over patient care can lead to higher costs, reduced access, and increased inequity.

Health is a public good, and South Africa's approach ensures that healthcare delivery is guided by equity, solidarity, and social justice rather than commercial interests.

Pillar 3: Primary health care approach to achieve universal health coverage

We must return to the basics of primary healthcare to reduce the burden of disease and address the expensive, unsustainable, and overly curative nature of the existing system. Prevention and health promotion in communities must be prioritised. A Primary Health Care-based approach remains the cornerstone of South Africa's strategy to achieve health sovereignty and Universal Health Coverage.

Pillar 4: Global leadership in disease control

South Africa has demonstrated leadership in global efforts against diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis, including the strategic rollout of innovative treatments like Lenacapavir. We are committed to making Lenacapavir a public good - accessible, affordable, and locally produced.

As part of South Africa's G20 Presidency, we will host a side event titled "High-Level Meeting on Together for a TB-Free World: Financing and Access Solutions for Novel TB Vaccines." Achieving global TB goals requires intensified research, accelerated development, sustainable financing, and equitable distribution of vaccines.

Pillar 5: Local manufacturing and pandemic preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for local production and accelerated South Africa's efforts to become a manufacturing hub for the continent. Key initiatives include:

• The Biovac Institute, progressing toward full local manufacturing via technology transfers.
• The WHO co-sponsored mRNA Hub, led by Afrigen Biologics.
• Aspen Pharmacare, which undertook the "fill and finish" of COVID-19 vaccines.

South Africa will actively champion the Africa CDC's New Public Health Order by advocating for:

• Pooled procurement mechanisms to drive down costs.
• Shared technical expertise to strengthen continental production capacity.
• African ownership and leadership in all global health negotiations.

As we convene this Third HLSM, let our deliberations be guided by three principles:

• Alignment with continental and national health priorities.
• Actionability with measurable results and defined accountability.
• Sustainability ensuring that our joint gains are system-based and long-term.

I am pleased that today's meeting is being held at the University of Pretoria - a space of academic excellence and policy innovation. Institutions like this are essential partners in translating knowledge into policy and action.

South Africa remains committed to policy learning, joint innovation, and regulatory harmonisation, including through the African Medicines Agency and other regional mechanisms.

We are also aligning these efforts with our National Health Insurance reforms and G20 Presidency health priorities, which emphasise primary health care, health financing, digital transformation, and equitable access to essential services.

Let us strengthen the institutional backbone of our partnership - ensuring the AU, EU, and Member States speak with one voice on global health diplomacy, pandemic preparedness, and investment for health.

In closing, I wish to thank the organisers - the Africa CDC, European Commission, and University of Pretoria - for hosting this important dialogue. The work before us is not easy, but it is necessary. Together, we can transform this partnership from a framework of cooperation into a model of shared global health governance.

Let this meeting reaffirm our collective resolve to ensure that Africa's health systems are not only supported but strengthened - that they are not only resilient but sovereign.

I thank you.

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