Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 4-5 June 2026
Strengthening country-led coordination for integrated, resilient and accountable primary health care systems across Africa
Preamble
Representatives of African Union Member States, including Directors of Primary Health Care, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), and Digital Health, convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 4-5 June 2026 for the inaugural consultation on the Primary Health Care Continental Coordination Mechanism (PHC-CCM). The consultation was convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, with participation from the African Union Commission, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNFPA, representatives of the Government of the United Kingdom, development partners, civil society and academia.
Against the backdrop of the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty (AHSS) Agenda, participants recognised primary health care (PHC) as a foundation of universal health coverage, health security and resilient health systems. Strong PHC systems connect essential services, including maternal and child health, immunisation, nutrition, disease prevention and surveillance, with community health, emergency preparedness and response. They are essential to equitable access to quality care, particularly for underserved communities.
Participants affirmed the need for integrated, people-centred and digitally enabled PHC systems, supported by strong national leadership, sustainable financing and accountability. They endorsed the establishment of the PHC-CCM as a continental platform for strategic dialogue, policy alignment, peer learning and coordinated action on PHC transformation.
Purpose and guiding principle
The PHC-CCM is guided by the principle that countries lead, regional and continental institutions coordinate, and partners support. It is intended to align policies, investments, technical assistance and partnerships with national priorities and continental commitments, while strengthening country ownership and mutual accountability.
Continental coordination architecture
The coordination architecture is anchored in a Continental PHC Leadership Forum and thematic Continental Coordination Forums (CCFs). The consultation outlined the following roles and proposals:
- Continental PHC Leadership Forum: the principal platform for strategic leadership, policy dialogue, cross-sector coordination, peer learning, knowledge exchange and accountability for PHC transformation.
- RMNCAH Continental Coordination Forum: a platform to advance reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition through integrated, people-centred PHC approaches.
- Digital Health and Innovation Continental Coordination Forum: a platform to advance digital public infrastructure, interoperability, data governance, health intelligence, artificial intelligence and responsible innovation to strengthen PHC.
- Community Health and Health Promotion Continental Coordination Forum: recommended by participants to support community health systems, health promotion, community engagement, disease prevention and the integration of community-based services into PHC.
- Immunisation Continental Coordination Forum: recommended by participants to strengthen continental leadership and coordination for equitable immunisation, routine systems and life-course approaches, including in underserved, fragile and conflict-affected settings.
- Additional thematic forums: to be considered as priorities emerge, including disease prevention and control, non-communicable diseases, mental health, emergency preparedness, workforce development, and climate and health.
Together, these structures are intended to promote coordinated implementation across PHC, community health, RMNCAH, immunisation, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health financing, digital health, disease prevention and health security.
Collective commitments
Participants reaffirmed their commitment to advancing PHC transformation and called on Member States, Regional Economic Communities, Africa CDC, the African Union Commission, partners, civil society, academia and other stakeholders to support the implementation of the mechanism. In particular, participants committed to:
- Strengthen national, regional and continental coordination for PHC transformation and integrated service delivery.
- Advance the Africa CDC PHC Transformation Framework, including community health systems, workforce development, financing, digital transformation, quality of care, governance and health intelligence.
- Promote the integration of RMNCAH, immunisation, nutrition, WASH, community health, emergency preparedness and disease control within PHC delivery platforms.
- Advance secure, interoperable and sovereign digital health solutions that support services, health intelligence, decision-making and accountability.
- Mobilise sustainable domestic and international financing while improving efficiency, investment alignment, accountability and country ownership.
- Develop monitoring, evaluation and peer-review arrangements, including continental scorecards, annual progress reviews, policy briefs and recommendations for ministers.
- Strengthen collaboration among Member States, Regional Economic Communities, AU institutions, civil society, academia and development partners around national priorities.
- Support the operationalisation of the PHC-CCM Secretariat and associated Directors' Forums as sustained platforms for dialogue, coordination and accountability.
- Adopt and apply the Africa Digital Health Maturity Assessment Tool to assess readiness, identify gaps, guide country roadmaps and track progress.
- Develop costed digital health investment cases demonstrating value for money and expected outcomes, and advocate for dedicated and sustainable financing.
- Establish or strengthen national coordination platforms to align government and partner investments with national priorities, interoperability standards and the continental PHC Digitalization Framework.
- Strengthen health data governance, data protection and appropriate sovereign hosting arrangements, consistent with national laws and continental frameworks.
Priority continental actions and recommendations
To translate this commitment into action, participants recommended:
- Accelerating the development, validation and endorsement of the Continental PHC Transformation Framework, informed by the continental PHC landscape and maturity assessment and aligned with the AHSS Agenda, the Lusaka Agenda and Agenda 2063.
- Establishing a Disease Prevention and Control Forum under the PHC-CCM to strengthen coordination on non-communicable diseases, mental health, infectious diseases, and emergency preparedness and response.
- Developing and implementing a Continental Community Health Worker Acceleration Plan in support of the African Union target of two million community health workers and stronger community-based services.
- Supporting implementation of the AU RMNCAH Champion Roadmap to accelerate reductions in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent mortality through stronger leadership, accountability and investment.
- Establishing a structured programme of webinars and peer learning on interoperability, digital public infrastructure, data governance, investment planning and PHC digital transformation.
- Establishing the Immunisation Continental Coordination Forum under the PHC-CCM to support leadership, coordination, peer learning and strategic alignment in implementing the Continental Immunisation Strategy.
Looking ahead
Participants reaffirmed their shared ambition to build resilient, equitable, people-centred, digitally enabled and climate-resilient PHC systems that serve every community. The PHC-CCM provides a platform through which Member States and partners can translate continental commitments into coordinated, measurable country-level action.
Its impact will depend on sustained country leadership, functioning coordination arrangements, aligned financing, meaningful community engagement and transparent review of progress. Through these collective efforts, the mechanism can contribute to universal health coverage, stronger health security, the AHSS Agenda and the aspirations of Agenda 2063.
Endorsed by participants of the Primary Health Care Continental Coordination Mechanism Consultation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 5 June 2026.