By Janine Coetsee, PhD
Think about it: when you are unwell, how productive are you at a personal or professional level? Your energy levels are low, your concentration impaired, and your ability to function optimally diminished. Now imagine that at a grand scale across millions of people experiencing chronic illness, physical pain, or reduced life expectancy that may unfortunately lead to premature death. The consequences extend far beyond individual households to communities, businesses, and entire national economies.
When people enjoy good physical and mental health, they are better positioned to learn, work, innovate and give back to society. Healthy populations strengthen the foundations of productive economies, while preventable illness undermines the human capital on which sustainable development depends.
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For Sub-Saharan Africa, this relationship is particularly critical. While the region has demonstrated considerable economic resilience, preventable illness and barriers to accessing quality healthcare constrain human potential. The challenge is compounded by a complex, dual disease burden in which infectious diseases remain prevalent alongside a rapidly escalating crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancers, placing mounting pressure on households and health systems alike.
The economic case for addressing this is compelling. An analysis conducted by McKinsey Global Institute on 200 countries estimated that for every $1 invested in improving health, an economic return of $2 to $4 was possible. Nations that allocate resources to healthcare systems secure extended life expectancy, improved productivity, and long-term economic expansion. Beyond the numbers lies the real impact: healthier people are able to live longer, remain active in their communities, care for their families, and contribute more fully to society. Investing in health is therefore not simply a healthcare expenditure; it is an investment in people, productivity, resilience, and a nation’s long-term prosperity.
Yet, without robust protection, illness exacts a heavy toll. The World Bank estimates that 11 million Africans fall into poverty every year due to high out-of-pocket healthcare payments, forcing families to deplete savings and land assets to fund medical care. Households managing chronic conditions face a significantly elevated risk of catastrophic health expenditures, turning manageable health episodes into generational poverty cycles.
Health investment must therefore respond to both the immediate burden of infectious diseases and the longer-term demands of chronic illness. These challenges should be addressed as interconnected priorities, rather than competing ones.
Sub-Saharan Africa needs health systems capable of preventing disease, early diagnosing mechanisms, delivering effective & safe treatment, that support patients throughout their lives.
A powerful country-level illustration of health as an investment cornerstone is visible in Ghana’s trajectory. With non-communicable diseases accounting for roughly 47 percent of the national disease burden as at 2021, Ghana has leveraged the systematic expansion of its National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) backed by recent funding allocations exceeding $920 million (GH¢10.7 billion) to integrate primary care screening for hypertension and early-stage cancers into community-level service delivery. By ensuring that high-burden chronic care is supported through public financing frameworks, Ghana is actively shielding households from catastrophic medical expenditures, preserving workforce productivity, and securing the social stability necessary for sustainable national development.
Realizing this impact depends on whether health facilities possess the equipment, trained personnel, diagnostic capacity, and medicines required to deliver care. Scientific innovation offers a vital catalyst here. Advances in medicines, diagnostics, and treatment approaches exist and can help countries address diseases more effectively, provided these innovations are accessible and supported by functioning health systems.
This is where sustained collaboration between governments, healthcare providers, research institutions, industry and development partners becomes critical. Each has a role & responsibility to play in ensuring that scientific advances translate into better health outcomes and broader access to care.
Part of that responsibility is ensuring the region is ready to adopt evidence-based treatment options that can address unmet medical need, particularly where the burden of NCDs is rising and access to appropriate care remains uneven. Timely, equitable access to innovation, supported by functioning health systems, can improve the management of conditions that would otherwise lead to premature death, disability, and lost productivity, contributing to healthier populations and more resilient economies.
This recognition informed Novartis’s establishment of a dedicated Sub-Saharan Africa business in 2019, with a focus on expanding access to innovative treatments to patients across the region for chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers, as well as infectious diseases such as malaria. The company’s ambition to introduce innovative medicines earlier in markets supported by appropriate access options, where patient needs are urgent and treatment options remain limited. Indeed, patients in Sub-Saharan Africa should not have to wait years to benefit from treatments that could improve or save their lives simply because of where they live.
Yet, the value of scientific innovation depends not only on developing new treatments, but also on making them accessible, supported by the diagnostic services, skilled and trained healthcare professionals, and delivery systems needed to ensure appropriate care. Bridging the gap between scientific advances and access to treatment therefore requires sustained investment in health systems, alongside innovation itself. Only then can medical progress translate into more equitable health outcomes and contribute fully to the region’s social and economic development.
When all is said and done, addressing systemic access challenges requires a holistic approach built on proactive public-private partnerships. By bringing together governments, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, medical associations, industry, and patient advocacy groups, we can co-create innovative healthcare solutions that integrate preventive and curative care. Prioritizing health as an investment is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’. By integrating preventive and curative care, Sub-Saharan Africa can transform health systems into engines for social stability, economic resilience, and lasting prosperity.
The writer is the Chief Commercial and Operations Officer, Novartis Sub-Saharan Africa.
