Commission on Population and Development Calls for Renewed Commitment to Health Equity: A Focus on Africa’s Challenges

April 2025 – New York, United Nations – The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) convened for its fifty-eighth session from April 7-11, 2025, under the theme *”Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.”* Throughout the session, global leaders and health experts underscored the urgent need to address systemic health inequities, particularly in regions like Africa, which face unique challenges due to rapid population growth, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, and financial constraints.

Catharina Jannigje Lasseur, Chair of the Commission, opened the session by emphasizing that health is a fundamental human right. While acknowledging progress in global health — such as reductions in maternal and child mortality and longer life expectancies — Lasseur stressed that too many health-related targets remain unmet. In particular, women and girls in many parts of the world, including Africa, continue to face violence and a denial of their bodily autonomy, while vulnerable populations, especially those in climate-vulnerable regions, remain excluded from essential health services.

Africa’s Health Challenges: A Demographic and Resource Strain

In Africa, the situation is particularly pressing. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, continues to experience rapid population growth, with a youth-heavy demographic profile. Cheryl Sawyer, Chief of the Population Trends and Analysis Branch at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, highlighted that while many countries are experiencing longer life expectancies and declining fertility rates, many African nations are still at a stage in their demographic transition that presents unique challenges.

With population growth expected to continue, especially in low-income countries, the demand for healthcare services is rapidly rising. In many African countries, health systems are underdeveloped and struggle to meet the growing needs for essential services, including maternal care, immunizations, and access to family planning. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly two-thirds of global maternal deaths, a stark reminder of the urgent need for stronger health systems and improved access to maternal healthcare (WHO, 2023).

Strengthening Health Systems and Long-Term Care

The session also addressed the increasing number of older persons globally, a trend that will affect African countries in the coming decades. While Africa’s population remains young, the number of older persons is on the rise, creating an additional strain on health systems. In lower-middle-income countries, including many in Africa, the lack of sufficient long-term care infrastructure is becoming more evident, and the burden of caregiving often falls disproportionately on women, who themselves may be aging.

To address these challenges, Cheryl Sawyer emphasized the importance of political commitment and increased investment in health systems. Strengthening primary healthcare services and expanding long-term care systems are essential for ensuring the well-being of both the young and elderly populations. Investing in such systems will be crucial as the global population aged 60 and older is projected to increase by 72% over the next 25 years, from 1.22 billion in 2025 to 2.11 billion by 2050 (United Nations, 2025).

Tackling Maternal Mortality and Ensuring Sexual and Reproductive Health

Maternal health remains a critical area for improvement, particularly in Africa. Alessio Cangiano, Acting Chief of the Population and Development Branch at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), discussed the importance of reducing maternal mortality through accessible and skilled healthcare. In many African countries, maternal deaths remain unacceptably high due to factors such as lack of skilled birth attendants, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, and cultural barriers to accessing care.

In response, Cangiano emphasized the role of community health workers, especially in rural and underserved areas. These workers are often the first line of defense in providing prenatal and postnatal care, increasing childhood vaccination rates, and ensuring the overall health of mothers and children. However, Cangiano stressed that more investment is needed to scale these efforts and ensure that sexual and reproductive health services are universally available.

Despite these challenges, Cangiano also pointed out that universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, skilled birth attendance, and HIV prevention, has shown the highest returns on investment and is essential for improving health outcomes across the continent (UNFPA, 2025).

The Role of Digital Health Innovation

Another critical issue raised at the session was the potential of digital health technologies to address gaps in healthcare access. Pascale Allotey, Director of the WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, discussed how digital health platforms and mobile technologies are transforming healthcare delivery, particularly in remote African regions. These platforms have enabled individuals in underserved areas to access critical health information and services, and telemedicine has helped improve diagnostics and care.

However, Allotey also noted that while these technologies hold great promise, they are not yet fully utilized in many African countries, where healthcare infrastructure remains underdeveloped. The WHO calls for better leveraging digital health data and artificial intelligence to improve service delivery and health literacy, particularly in settings that stand to benefit the most (WHO, 2025).

Financial Constraints and the Need for Greater Investment

Despite the potential of digital innovations and community health initiatives, financial constraints remain a significant barrier to improving health outcomes in Africa. As Alessio Cangiano pointed out, many African governments allocate a disproportionately small share of their GDP to healthcare, a trend that undermines efforts to achieve universal health coverage.

Pascale Allotey echoed this concern, highlighting that nearly 4.5 billion people globally lack access to essential health services, with Africa being disproportionately affected. Furthermore, nearly 2 billion people face financial hardship due to healthcare costs, forcing many to choose between seeking care and basic survival. Tackling these financial barriers will require substantial increases in government health spending and better international support for the most vulnerable countries (WHO, 2025).

The Path Forward: A Call to Action

The fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Population and Development made it clear that while global health progress has been made, significant work remains to ensure that all populations, especially in Africa, have access to the health services they need. Africa’s health systems require urgent strengthening through increased political will, targeted investments, and improved access to both primary and specialized care.

As the session concluded, the Commission adopted a new work plan and appointed key officials to lead efforts in addressing these global health challenges. The message was clear: without increased commitment to health equity, the global community will continue to fall short of its goals, especially in regions like Africa where the need for action is most urgent.

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