About the 2016 Conference Broad Theme

The current landscape in international development is dominated by discussions around the new Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and the ‘Grand Convergence’ [i] advocated by the Lancet’s Commission on Investing in Health (CIH) that are set to replace the MDGs. African policy makers have made inputs into these international discussions and certainly the broad health-related objectives sought (e.g. universal health coverage, accelerated reductions in deaths from maternal, childhood and infectious disease conditions) are mostly in line with the health goals and priorities of African countries.

However the policy and resource implications of these initiatives are not yet obvious to all policy makers and the leaders of the countries, especially those who would need to make the most drastic efforts to achieve the goals and the so-called convergence. It is proposed that following on from the last conference theme on UHC and the post-2015 health agenda, the next conference should offer a platform for researchers and policy makers to discuss these and other relevant issues of African health in the post-2015 world.

This theme will look at the alignment of the SDGs and the ‘Grand Convergence’ with health goals and priorities of African countries, and critically analyze the opportunities and challenges facing their implementation. Key outcomes of the event will be taken further through a policy brief that we would disseminate among policy makers in Africa.

The conference will follow a typical format with oral presentations on high quality research in parallel sessions as well as plenary sessions bringing together recognized experts on African health economics and policy.