Abstract
Health diplomacy is an instrument of social justice and human rights, including the right to good and affordable health. The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the vulnerable African health sector and despite earlier initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which affirms the global resolve to tackle social, environmental, and economic issues underpinning humanity and the planet by 2030. With the health-related SDGs in mind, this chapter appraises the role of the African Union as an overarching structure and its Agenda 2063 as far as the issues of health are concerned. Launched in June 2015 in South Africa, Agenda 2063 is a shared framework for comprehensive growth and sustainable development for Africa. Despite multilateral and bilateral cooperation among nations, the geopolitical interests of the world’s powerful nations continue to affect African states in their quest for equitable access to health care. Health tourism remains both a challenge and an opportunity for Africa. As the continent of the future, this chapter argues for deepened health diplomacy as a core factor in African relations with the global community and among its member states, in order to reap the benefits of its youthful population and vast untapped natural and human resources including its biodiversity.
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Takwa, Z.S. (2023). Health Diplomacy and Africa: An Overview. In: Ndi, H.N., Bang, H.N., Takwa, Z.S., Mbur, A.T. (eds) Health Diplomacy in Africa. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41249-3_3
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