During the meeting, the World Bank Group launched a regional health strategy titled “Fit to Prosper: Investing in Health for Jobs plus Development in Western plus Central Africa”, described as a country-driven roadmap anchored in the principle of health sovereignty. The strategy frames health investment as an economic imperative, linking universal health coverage (UHC) to productivity, resilience plus job creation.
Fit to Prosper is structured around three priorities: Frontlines First, focused on strengthening primary care service delivery; Fixing Finance, aimed at sustainable investment; plus Future Fit, designed to improve health system resilience.
Ghana Chief of Staff Julius Debrah said Fit to Prosper aligns with national objectives to expand UHC plus strengthen health systems, with an emphasis on access to quality care regardless of income plus location. Debrah said investment in health supports jobs, stability plus long-term development outcomes across the region.
World Bank Group Vice President for People, Mamta Murthi, said the objective is to ensure affordable maternal plus child health services, with emphasis on protecting families from poverty driven by the cost of care. Murthi said a child’s health in the first 1 000 days shapes learning capacity, productivity plus future contribution to economic growth.
Fit to Prosper aligns with the World Bank Group’s ambition to support access to quality, affordable health services for 200 million people by 2030, contributing to a global goal of 1.5 billion people. Fit to Prosper is also linked to the Africa Initiative for Medical Access plus Manufacturing, plus National Health Compacts designed to align national priorities plus resources around a single measurable roadmap.
A joint statement endorsed at the meeting called for stronger domestic resource mobilisation, plus more efficient public spending, plus wider adoption of National Health Compacts structured around “one plan, one budget, one reporting system”. The statement also highlighted private sector participation as essential for innovation, service delivery plus local value chains for health commodities.
Participating partners included the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Japan International Cooperation Agency, alongside civil society, regional institutions, plus youth leaders.
–WorldBank/ChannelAfrica–
