The year 2020 has confirmed to the whole world that one of the most important and toughest portfolios to hold in a government is that of a Minister of Health.
In Africa, our health ministers have been at the forefront of the fight against the Corona Virus pandemic and with support from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, there’s hope of Africans rising from this pandemic, scathed but stronger.
Primary among the roles of a health minister are overseeing the formulation of health policies, providing strategic direction of health delivery services, allocating resources and evaluating the health status of their countries. The COVID19 pandemic has added one more fundamental function to the list. Today, our health ministers have become warlords, assigned to lead various taskforces to fight the coronavirus pandemic in their respective countries.
In all the 54 African countries, health ministries are crucial members of cabinet. There, they convey health issues of the people to president and give status updates of health policies and projects.
In the face of this pandemic I decided to research into the professional and academic backgrounds of Africa’s Health Ministers. I discovered that only 36 out of 54 representing 67% of African health ministers have an educational background in health. The rest were appointed because of their political records and association with the powers that be.
It is interesting to note that in the Republic of Seychelles for instance, the President doubles as the health minister.
Another factor of keen interest is the fact that, as it stands, only 14 of Africa’s health ministers are female.
Nobody knows when COVID19 will die down or even if it will at all. While the world gunners its strengths to fight this war, how ready is Africa? How capable are Africa’s Health Ministers?
To read more about health ministers in Africa, I have published their profiles on www.princeakpah.com/2020healthministers
Below is the list of 2020 54 Health Ministers in Africa (27/04/20)
- Abdellatif Mekki (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Tunisia
- Abderrahmane Benbouzid (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Algeria
- Abdoulaye Sarr – Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Senegal
- Ahmad Ahmad (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Madagascar
- Ahmadou Lamin Samateh (Dr.) – Minister of Health, The Gambia
- Akram Ali Eltom (Dr.) – Ministry of Health, Sudan
- Alpha Tejan Wurie (Prof.) – Minister of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
- Amna Nurhusein – Minister of Health, Eritrea
- Arlindo Nascimento do Rosário (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Social Security, Cape Verde
- Armindo Tiago (Prof. Dr.) – Minister of Health, Mozambique
- Chitalu Chilufya (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Zambia
- Daniel Ngamije (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Rwanda
- Djama Elmi Okieh (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Djibouti
- Edgar Neves (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Sao Tome and Principe
- Ehmid Bin Omar – Minister of Health, Libya
- Elizabeth Acuei Yor – Minister of Health, South Sudan
- Eugène Aouélé Aka (Dr.) – Minister of Health & Public Hygiene, Cote D’Ivoire
- Fawziya Abikar (Dr.) – Minister of Health & Social Care, Somalia
- Eteni Longondo (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, DR Congo
- Hala Zayed (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Population, Egypt
- Igance Benjamin Hounkpatin (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Benin
- Illiassou Mainassara (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, Niger
- Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo – Minister of Health and Population, Congo
- Jappie Mhango – Minister of Health and Population, Malawi
- Danny Faure – Minister of Health, Seychelles
- Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Wellness, Mauritius
- Kalumbi Shangula (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Social Services, Namibia
- Khalid Ait Taleb (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Morocco
- Kwaku Agyemang-Manu – Minister of Health, Ghana
- Lemogang Kwape (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Wellness, Botswana
- Léonie Claudine Sorgho/Lougue (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Burkina Faso
- Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Ethiopia
- Lizzie Nkosi – Minister of Health, Eswatini
- Loub Yakouti Zaidou – Minister of Health, Comoros
- Mahamoud Youssouf Khayal – Minister of Public Health, Chad
- Manaouda Malachie (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, Cameroon
- Maria Inácia Có Sanhá – Minister of Public Health, Family and Social Cohesion, Guinea Bissau
- Max Limoukou (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Gabon
- Michel Sidibe – Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Mali
- Mohamed Nedhirou Ould Hamed (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Mauritania
- Moustafa Mijiyawa (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Togo
- Mutahi Kagwe – Cabinet Secretary for Health, Kenya
- Nkaku Kabi – Minister of Health, Lesotho
- Obadiah Moyo (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe
- Osagie Ehanire (Dr.) – Minister Health, Nigeria
- Pierre Somse (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Central African Republic
- Remy Lamah (Dr. Col.) – Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Guinea
- Ruth Jane Aceng (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Uganda
- Salomon Nguema Owono – Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Equatorial Guinea
- Silvia Lutucuta (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Angola
- Thadee Ndikumana (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health and Fight against HIV &AIDS, Burundi
- Ummy Mwalimu – Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Seniors and Children, Tanzania
- Wilhelmina Jallah (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Liberia
- Zweli Mkhize (Dr.) – Minister of Health, South Africa
Research and article by Prince Akpah, MD of Avance Media
