East African Business Week

Kampala, Uganda - African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have committed to increase health spending, noting the importance of investing in human development and health in particular to stimulate and sustain economic growth and development.
The agreement came at a recent joint conference of African Union ministers of finance, planning and economic affairs, and the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, held in Addis Ababa. According to the 2010 health financing scorecard created by the Africa Public  Health Alliance and 15% Campaign, only six countries, Rwanda, 18.8%, Botswana, 17.8%, Niger, 17.8%,  Malawi, 17.1%, Zambia, 16.4% and Burkina Faso, 15.8% are spending at least 15% of their national budgets on health .
Additionally, 32 out of 53 AU member states invest less than half of WHO recommended $40 per person. 11 of these countries are investing a mere $5 or less per capita. Rotimi Sankore, the coordinator of the Africa Public Health Alliance said, "currently health financing trends on the continent are worrisome. "Without clean water and sanitation among others, efforts to improve health are compromised," says Sankore.
Participants at the meeting noted that the importance of investing in human development broadly and health was a prerequisite for development.