NATIONAL NEWS - Africa’s biggest healthcare exhibition & congress – Africa Health – is set to take place in the City of Cape Town at the CTICC from 22 – 24 October 2024. A true showcase of innovation and technology, the longstanding annual event will set the tone for the future of collaborative healthcare, showcasing not only the latest across the continent, but also why Cape Town is poised to unlock the immense potential in the provincial and national healthcare sector.
In the lead up to the congress, the Western Cape Minister of Health, Mireille Wrenger, recently shared at a joint networking evening with Africa Health and WESGRO why she believes that Cape Town, with its unique position, infrastructure, and community, is the perfect environment for bold innovation to thrive.
As a cornerstone of human welfare and societal prosperity, the need to ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the continent’s people is of paramount importance. Africa Health 2024 – the 14th edition of the event to take place – will bring together the best healthcare professionals from across the continent, including policymakers, medical professionals, service providers, manufacturers and key opinion leaders.
Echoing the Minister’s sentiments, Informa Markets Exhibition Manager for Africa Health, Daniel Green, believes that the congress and exhibition provides a unique and much needed platform to gather those that share a collective ambition to foster a vibrant and sustainable healthcare sector.
Historically, the Congress has served as a key forum for wide-ranging discussions across the healthcare ecosystem, including technological innovations, policy, and financing.
The upcoming Cape Town event continues this tradition, aiming to bring together diverse healthcare professionals to address the sector's pressing challenges.
Key take outs from the Minister’s insights shared include:
- Africa’s health systems are seriously undermined by a lack of regional manufacturing capacity.
- The continent is a net importer of both pharmaceuticals and medical devices making it particularly vulnerable to global trade disruptions and demand spikes.
- South Africa in particular only sees 5% of local industry participants manufacturing devices with more than 76% imported.
- According to an FDi Intelligence report on the medical device and equipment industry from 2020, the industry is expected to reach a valuation of 612.7 billion US dollars by 2025 – growing by a compound annual growth rate of 5.4%.
- That said, South Africa is a market leader in the region, and in 2021 Fitch Solutions estimated the medical devices market at R21 billion with the project growth by 2025 to reach R29.6 billion – yet South Africa is only 0.3% of the global medical device market.
- Investment in health technology is essential to sustainable growth – recognised in the Western Cape Government’s ‘Growth for Jobs’ strategy (G4J) that seeks to elevate technology and innovation as on the provinces seven key pillars to achieve breakout economic growth in the Western Cape.
“If we want to build truly resilient and comprehensive health systems in the Western Cape, across South Africa and for the continent overall we must keep driving to scale existing projects and pushing the boundaries of innovative care,” says Minister Wrenger.
“The bold health innovations here on our own soil demonstrate the tangible power of technology to deliver real benefits to real people will allow us to build a healthier population and promote safer communities,” she concludes.
“We’ve seen the growth potential that exists by the medical devices industry, and unlocking the local opportunities that exist in the Western Cape and across the country has the power to massively impact economic and sustainability needs,” concludes Green.
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