Congress May 2026

28th Francophone Health Meetings in Geneva — Africa at the heart of the issues

At the 28th Francophone Health Meetings organised by Leem, on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, rich exchanges on a crucial challenge: how to adapt our health systems in the French-speaking world to make innovation accessible to all, particularly in Africa?

Rencontres Francophones de la Santé Genève 2026 — avec Pierre N'gou DIMBA, Ministre de la Santé de Côte d'Ivoire

Rencontres Francophones de la Santé Genève 2026 — photo 2

Meeting with Pierre N'gou DIMBA, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage of Côte d'Ivoire

Key discussion points

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Health is not a zero-sum game: cooperation is essential to meet common challenges.
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With Africa, think 'economic zone' rather than 55 countries or fragmented markets — to pool forces and resources. (Karim Bendhaou, President of the Africa Directorate, Merck Group)
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Digitalisation and digital health card: an imperative to organise data and reach a health standard comparable to the West.
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Access to innovations: initiatives like the Accord for a Healthier World (Rihana Diabo, Director, Global Health Partnership, Pfizer) show that solutions must be tailored to each country, beyond technology.
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Data = the black gold of health: leveraging it requires clear regulations and training centres to attract clinical research.
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Connecting African countries: data interoperability and regional collaboration are key. (Pierre N'gou DIMBA, Minister of Health, Côte d'Ivoire) — an ambition we share at Gencovery with the Constellab platform.
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AI and cybersecurity: immense opportunities, but also risks of misuse. (Prof. Elsa Nkana Joséphine Ayo, Minister of Health, Gabon) We must get on board and ensure representativeness of solutions.
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Local-international partnerships: rather than imposing models, involve local actors for sustainable implementation. (Safiatou K. Coulibaly, Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire)
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Financing and business hubs: creating ecosystems favourable to health innovation in Africa, drawing inspiration from Anglo-Saxon models. (Marième Gueye)

Panellists

Pierre N'gou DIMBA

Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage — Côte d'Ivoire

Rihana Diabo

Director, Global Health Partnership — Pfizer

Safiatou K. Coulibaly

Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire

Marième Gueye

Africa health expert

Karim Bendhaou

President of the Africa Directorate — Merck Group

Many thanks to the organisers and speakers for these inspiring discussions, in particular MabDesign for the introduction.

❓ And you, how do you see the future of health in the French-speaking world?

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