From reacting to anticipating: Takeaways for Africa from Abu Dhabi's Future Health Summit

Organisers say that the three-day summit, which commenced on 20 October, drew an international audience of more than sixteen thousand visitors, including health ministers and policymakers, health researchers, senior representatives from some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, health tech entrepreneurs, and investors.

In the summit’s opening panel, Mansoor Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Department of Health for Abu Dhabi, framed the summit as an urgent response to the widening gap between increasing lifespans and healthy living.

People are living longer than ever before, with global life expectancy approaching 74 years and forecast to exceed 78 by mid-century. But those additional years are not always healthy ones. A growing share of the world’s population is expected to spend its later decades coping with chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and cancer.

Al Mansoori emphasised that the future of health belongs to systems that can sense, predict, and act before disease takes root, transitioning societies from reactive clinical care to proactive, lifelong wellness.

Drawing on Abu Dhabi’s experience, he noted that data, artificial intelligence (AI), digital technology and innovation all play a critical enabling role in helping health systems make this transition.

However, to successfully transition to anticipatory systems, countries must overcome what he described as institutional inertia. “Many healthcare systems, no matter how hard you push, fail to move. There is an inability to take risks and a preference for smaller incremental changes. But in the age of AI where discovery is happening much faster than delivery, health systems have to move faster.”

Countries must also address the fragmentation of data in their health systems and create incentives for preventative care. “We should incentivise paying for preventative care. Imagine getting paid for avoiding cancer rather than treating it after it has been detected,” he said.

Tackling rising cases of NCDs

A defining theme emerging from discussions at the summit was the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including hypertension, diabetes and cancer, which are placing unprecedented pressure on health systems worldwide and claiming countless lives prematurely.

“Non-communicable diseases are the greatest population health threat we face globally, with 75% of global deaths caused by NCDs. Roughly half of them occur before the age of 70,” said Dr Ahmed Alkhazraji, Executive Director of Healthy Living at the Department of Health.

For Africa, the challenge is particularly acute. Many countries are grappling with the dual burden of combating both infectious diseases and chronic illnesses.

According to Dr Raji Tajudeen, Deputy Director General of the Africa CDC, constrained healthcare financing has made it increasingly difficult for governments on the continent to effectively respond to both infectious diseases and NCDs —  a challenge compounded by declining donor support across the continent.

That said, Tajudeen noted that health policymakers are increasingly shifting their attention towards prevention, early detection and long-term disease management for NCDs.

“For Africa CDC, the direction of travel for our member states is around prevention and health promotion, anticipatory health, precision medicine and screening,” he said on a panel at the summit.

Financing this response, however, remains one of the continent’s most pressing obstacles. Amid declining external financing, Tajudeen argued that African countries will need to develop more sustainable domestic financing mechanisms.

“As far as financing the fight against NCDs goes, the continent is facing pressure,” he said. “We need to think innovatively about financing and mobilise as much domestic resources as we can, including more taxes on alcohol and tobacco, which are both linked to some NCDs.”

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