Sustainable financing to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria: lessons learned from the African Union’s Abuja Declaration

BACKGROUND: Investment in malaria control has been proven to contribute to socio-economic development. Concomitant investment in HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis further augments these socio-economic gains. Africa has used this evidence to guide policy-making, especially for investment in the control of malaria and other infectious diseases. Pursuant to the objective of developing Africa, the Heads of State and Government of the OAU met in 2001 to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a scourge that was ravaging the continent. Noting that the health sector in Africa needed more financial investment, the African leaders adopted a declaration that pledged to allocate at least 15% of their national annual budgets to the health sector. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected through review of documents and observations. RESULTS: The implementation of the Abuja declaration drew a number of mixed results, positive ones which could be scaled up and some challenges that could be used as lessons for improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Taking everything into account, the Abuja Call was a relatively unprecedented success for Africa. With continuous improvement, the initiative could even do better. The African Union should consider revising the Abuja Call, based on lessons learned and emerging issues.