WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly on Ending AIDS by 2030 – 22 July 2026

Your Excellency President Mahama,

Your Excellency Ndayishimiye

Your Excellency Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,

Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,

Honourable Ministers,

Distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends,

Good morning. Thank you, President Mahama, and thank you, Ghana, for hosting this historic summit, the first Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly ever dedicated to health.

This also speaks to Agenda 2063, the Africa We Want, a vision I helped shape as Ethiopia's Foreign Minister.

President Mahama, thank you for your leadership on African health sovereignty, from last August's Accra Summit to the Accra Reset that followed.

Let me share an honest assessment of where we stand.

Africa has made extraordinary progress against HIV, with new infections down 40% since 2010.

But Africa still carries the heaviest burden, and as external funding declines, we risk losing ground.

Conflict makes this harder. In Bunia, Ituri Province, an Ebola outbreak is spreading amid active armed conflict, slowing contact tracing and keeping health workers from communities.

The same challenge runs through maternal health, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and rising noncommunicable diseases.

These are not separate crises. They are one crisis: health systems not yet strong enough to protect every person on this continent.

Treating disease alone is not enough.

We must also tackle what drives it: poverty, poor education, unsafe water, and gender inequality.

That is why strengthening health systems must be at the centre of everything you decide in Accra.

WHO stands with you, as a partner, providing technical guidance and support.

But only Africa's leaders can deliver the political will and domestic investment this moment requires.

As you finalize your roadmap, hold to a few principles: let domestic resources lead, invest in primary health care and local manufacturing, use the science available today, and protect the most vulnerable. And hold each other accountable, because a declaration is only as strong as the follow-through behind it.

80 years ago, the WHO Constitution declared health a fundamental human right for every person. Africa's own history has shown the world what is possible when this continent leads.

You have the roadmap, the evidence, and the authority to change the trajectory of this continent's health for generations.

WHO will be at your side, every step of the way. Thank you.