Across Africa, the health crises that have commanded the most attention, and the most funding, have been the visible ones. HIV/AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19, Mpox. Governments and international donors have spent decades building systems to respond to outbreaks that spread fast and demand immediate action. That urgency has made sense. But Derrick Sim, Global Health Access and Financing Executive Director at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), is pointing to a slower, quieter threat that could prove just as costly.
Sim made the case at the Future Health roundtable held on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, speaking with African Business about the rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the continent. The numbers behind his warning are striking. Globally, NCDs account for 70% of all deaths and cause countries to lose 90% of GDP. Africa, he says, will not be the exception.
The link to economic growth is direct. As African economies expand, as populations grow and age, and as lifestyles shift, NCDs tend to follow. "These non-communicable diseases unfortunately are part of people's lifestyles as it becomes more modern," Sim explains. For policymakers and investors, that means the consequences reach well beyond healthcare systems into labour productivity, workforce participation and national competitiveness.
What makes this moment particularly sharp is that scientific innovation is moving fast. New treatments, vaccines and interventions are being developed by research institutions, governments and the private sector. The problem, Sim notes, is no longer about discovering medicines. It is about making sure patients can actually access them.
Africa is already being positioned as the world's next great growth story, driven by demographics and development ambition. How the continent prepares its health systems for NCDs now will shape a lot of what that story looks like in practice.
Originally published by African Business.