Participants

Co-Chairs: Mercy Mwangangi, Kenyan Ministry of Health and John-Arne Røttingen, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Steering Group members and alternates: Kristen Chenier, Global Affairs Canada; Roman Macaya, Costa Rica; Dr Roger Kamba, Office of the President, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ruth Nigatu, Ministry of Health, Ethiopia; Dr Satoshi Ezoe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan; Jo-Scott Nicholls, FCDO, UK; Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Africa CDC; Desta Lakew, Amref Health Africa; RD Marte, APCASO; Kieran Daly, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Clare Battle, Wellcome.

Observers: Hajime Inoue, Health, Nutrition, and Population, World Bank; Hendrik Schmitz-Guinote, Office of the Chef de Cabinet, WHO.

Secretariat: Linda Muller.

Regrets

Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Ghana Health Service; Ibu Penny Herasati, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; Atul Gawande, USAID.

Objectives

The objectives of this meeting were to:

  • update the group on the FGHI research programme of work and discuss opportunities to debate findings at key points in the process
  • discuss how to take the eventual research findings and translate them into political commitment to collective action, using such fora/mechanisms as the G7 Hiroshima Summit, the World Health Assembly universal health coverage (UHC) resolution, the G20 Summit and the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on UHC 
  • explore ways to mobilize African health leadership on the issue, to ensure Africa is at the heart of shaping the process and its outcomes.

See meeting slide deck for details.

Co-Chairs Update

UNICEF requested to join the Steering Group as an observer and Steering Group members supported this request, noting the importance of clearly articulating the rationale for this decision. Members wanted to avoid a further expansion of the number of observers. The support of UNICEF’s request was accepted based on:

  • its role as a UN agency with strong in-country presence
  • its long-standing work supporting countries on health systems strengthening
  • its role on major GHI boards.

Building the Evidence Base: Research Update

Implementing countries spoke to the relevance of the FGHI process to country-level UHC reforms, noting the opportunity for GHIs to do more to help countries to advance countries’ primary health care priorities in support of their trajectories toward UHC and to improve country resilience and pandemic preparedness.

Options for the Steering Group to debate research outputs were discussed. The UK’s proposal for a two-day in-person end-July meeting at Wilton Park in London to interrogate phase two research outputs was welcomed. A similar moment should be identified to consider phase one research outputs and the importance of creating moments also in the global south was highlighted.

There was a call for deeper engagement of the Steering Group in the research work and for this to be mapped out. It is expected that there will be other research inputs that will complement the work being commissioned by Wellcome. Additional research inputs would be valuable.

From Research Findings to Political Commitment to Collective Action

Discussions on Japan’s G7 agenda will officially start in January 2023 and will include an issue note on global health. FGHI inputs to this note are welcome. It is helpful that phase one research outputs will be available ahead of the 19-21 May G7 Summit and 13-14 May G7 Health Ministers’ meeting. These outputs can inform G7 discussions and also the September HLM on UHC. The FGHI plans to engage New York Permanent Representatives in the new year. It was noted that in most G7 countries engagement with, and funding for, GHIs comes from Development Ministries. The opportunity for internal socialization on the FGHI, including at the Ministerial level and even pending research outputs, was underscored and April’s meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were highlighted as opportunities to engage with development actors.

Collective action will be catalysed also via GHI boards and the importance of Steering Group members using their board seats to effect change was again stressed.

Mobilizing African Public Health Leadership

The FGHI is committed to mobilizing African public health leadership in the FGHI process, to ensure Africa is helping to shape the process and its outcomes. The 6-8 March Africa Health Agenda International Conference in Kigali was highlighted as an opportunity for both political and technical inputs and the Africa CDC offered to identify other opportunities on the continent. Several suggestions for regional engagement – in Africa and beyond – were flagged, though a lack of time

precluded substantive discussion. The suggestions will be explored in follow-up to the meeting.

Next Meetings

The next virtual Steering Group meetings will consider also the intersection of the Steering Group with the research programme of work and how to engage with regional processes and the meetings will be lengthened, to allow for more substantive discussion. The next meetings will take place on:

  • Tuesday 28 February, 1 pm UK
  • Tuesday 11 April, 1 pm UK