Message of the Regional Director
Dr Matshidiso Moeti
WHO Regional Director for Africa
Since 2019, we are running phase 2 of the regional Transformation Agenda, informing and in line with the global WHO Transformation, to ensure WHO is accountable, driven by results and providing value for money in the pursuit of better health. Our global priority in this period is to contribute to delivering on the triple billion targets of expanding universal health coverage, protecting people from emergencies, and promoting health and well-being for people across the Region.
This year’s Atlas of the African Health Statistics is being produced in the context of the COVID–19 pandemic that we have been experiencing for over two years. The ongoing pandemic of the coronavirus together with other health emergencies in the African Region are yet again testing the strength and resilience of our health systems. Indeed, the impact of COVID–19 is visible with the disruption of services. The report also presents the latest data for more than 50 health-related indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals and WHO’s “Triple Billion” targets and provides comprehensive country-level statistics using the results chains of AFRO framework of action for strengthening health system to achieve UHC and health related SDGs.
“Although the trend is towards an improvement, the health system in the African Region is still weak and lagging far behind other regions of the world. It also shows that unless we increase our pace, we will not be able to achieve most of our SDG targets.”
The Atlas shows that, although the trend is towards an improvement, the health system in the African Region is still weak and lagging far behind other regions of the world. It also shows that unless we increase our pace, we will not be able to achieve most of our SDG targets. This is unacceptable! The need for more accurate and timely data to effectively measure the progress and performance of our health system and improve health decisions and accountability has never been greater – and yet, data availability and quality remain key challenges in the African Region. I promised the Regional Committee my full commitment and the commitment of each person working for WHO in the African Region to support the countries we serve. I will ensure a strong support for activities for data generation, analysis and use to track our progress towards universal health coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
I wish to thank all those who contributed to the preparation of the Atlas for their work. I hope Member States and partners will find this Atlas 2022 a useful reference source.