East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 26th January,2024: EAC Ministers in charge of Health have endorsed a regional policy framework aimed at promoting antibiotics production and a collaborative mechanism for information exchange in the production and supply of antibiotics across the region.
The 44th EAC Ordinary Council of Ministers endorsed this framework following multistakeholder consultations at the national and regional level as well as sensitization meetings with senior officials including Permanent Secretaries of Ministries responsible for health and industry. The project engaged over 300 stakeholders from both public and private sectors across the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 21st December, 2023: The East African Community (EAC) Secretary GeneralHon (Dr). Peter Mathuki has said that strong digital systems are the key to successful health programmes in the region as the world becomes more technologically advanced.
Dr. Mathuki said that to fully realise the benefits of the digital transformation, it is essential for EAC Partner States to establish robust and effective governance frameworks for the health data that is being shared in order to manage risks and safeguard citizens’ rights.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 20th December, 2023:The 44th East African Community (EAC) Ordinary Council of Ministers, in their meeting held on 22nd November 2023, adopted the regional policy framework for the promotion of antibiotics production and supply in the EAC and a regional cooperation mechanism for information exchange for the production and supply of antibiotics.
The information on the adoption of the two documents came during the close out meeting of the EAC-UNCTAD project on “Investment incentives for local production of essential antibiotics in East Africa” held in Nairobi on 6th to 7th December 2023 attended by representatives from the EAC and its’ Partner States, UNCTAD, GIZ and GFA Consulting group.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 20th November, 2023: The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and the Pan African Health Informatics Association (HELINA) have concluded two days of a Consultative Forum on Health Data Governance in Kigali, Republic of Rwanda with a commitment by all the three parties to foster stronger health data governance to drive digital transformation and innovations in the health sector in East Africa.
The two-day forum, aimed to sensitise EALA members on the importance of developing the EAC Regional Health Data Governance (HDG) framework and similar initiatives for the African Union with a view to building consensus through the African Common Position that is part of the Africa Centre for Disease Control’s digital transformation flagship project on HDG.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th November, 2023: The 11th Meeting of the Regional Steering Committee of the EAC Regional Network of Public Health Reference Laboratories for Communicable Diseases (EAC RNPHRL-CD) concluded today with regional experts commending the role the project has played in strengthening the region's defense against health threats.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 29th September,2023: East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been called upon to adopt digital technologies including telemedicine, health apps, wearable devices and artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery and disease management.
Prof. Wallace Bulimo, the Deputy Director – Data and Statistics at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), said that digital technologies offer innovative solutions to improve healthcare access, especially in remote or under-served areas.
Prof. Bulimo said that the adoption of digital technologies was changing disease patterns with a shift in the disease burden globally.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27th September, 2023: Health experts in the East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been urged to use new technologies to manage emerging diseases.
Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, said that digital technologies would enable Partner States to use limited personnel and resources to make access to healthcare simpler and better for their citizens.
The 12th Ordinary Session of the EAC Council of Ministers in the year 2006, approved the Regional East African Health and Scientific Conference & International Health Exhibition and Trade Fair to be convened in East Africa and hosted on a rotational basis by the EAC Partner States through their respective National Ministries responsible for EAC Affairs, the Ministry responsible for Health, and other relevant institutions and bodies, and in close collaboration with regional and international health-related NGOs, civil society organizations, individuals, and other stakeholders in the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 24th April, 2023:The East African Community has commended the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the support extended to the region that facilitated the bloc’s regional COVID-19 response efforts.
The AfDB support was directed towards the set up of coordination systems for testing; test results verification; training of health workers and procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), test kits and laboratory consumables.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 29th March, 2023: The East African Community has launched the 2022 Reproductive, Maternal, New-Born, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Digital Scorecard for the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.
Officiating at the launch of the scorecard, the Minister of Health in the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, Hon. Nassor Ahmed Mazrui, said that the digital scorecard was an innovative intervention aimed at promoting accountability while improving access to health data, information and knowledge sharing for better results, better tracking and stronger oversight for women’s and children’s health.
