African countries have made bold pledges to address maternal and child mortality crisis on the continent, as a challenging health landscape, shrinking resources, climate change and conflict threaten to reverse decades of progress in child survival.
Nearly five million children die from preventable causes before the age of five every year.
Close to 60 percent of these deaths occur in Africa, most caused by infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and meningitis.
This is despite the existence of proven interventions such as vaccines, which have saved 154 million lives over the past 50 years.
As the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline looms, African governments are now doubling down on their commitments to end preventable deaths of children under five as envisioned by the global goals over the next five years.
The just concluded Innovation and Action for Immunization and Child Survival Forum 2025, which took place in Maputo, Mozambique, brought together representatives from various African countries that, joined the co-hosting Governments of Mozambique and Sierra Leone.
Other partners included the Government of Spain, the “la Caixa” Foundation, the Gates Foundation and UNICEF in sharing their commitments to prioritize child survival.
Addressing participants during the official opening ceremony, President of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo said the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes that all children have the right to survive and grow up healthy.
“Mozambique has made notable progress in safeguarding these rights, reducing child mortality from 201 to 60 per 1,000 live births between 1997 and 2022. These gains are the result of decades of structural investments in maternal and child health – one of the key pillars of our Government’s Five-Year Plan 2025–2029,” he said.
Sierra Leonean Minister of Health, Dr Austin Demby said the forum was not to discuss challenges, but to inspire action and save children’s lives.
“We have the tools, the science, the vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. What we need now is political commitment, suitable access, timely care and sustained investments across the continuum of care to enable us to accelerate progress toward the future we envision,” he said.
“We are calling on stakeholders to prioritize high-impact, high-return interventions alongside mobilizing resources for child survival to build sustainability and efficiency within health systems,” added Dr. Ussene Isse, the Mozambique Minister of Health.
Participants called for fostering partnerships between national and regional health organizations including the African Union, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), West African Health Organization (WAHO), East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC), and other stakeholders with capacity to contribute to child survival.
They also called for more focus on the most vulnerable children, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, by removing barriers to care, improving maternal education, and addressing risk factors such as malnutrition, lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, and air pollution, especially household.
They requested increase domestic and international funding for child survival, prioritizing cost-effective interventions and life-saving commodities that strengthen health systems, and securing sustainable financing solutions for reaching the most vulnerable groups, including in fragile and conflict affected states. Ensure these resources are flexible, to reduce fragmentation and direct funds where and when they’re needed most.
Increase domestic investment in resilient PHC systems, including at the community level. This includes securing continuum of care, appropriate referral systems, and quality of care at primary and referral level; equipping health facilities with diagnostic tools and essential medicines for pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhoea, as well as sustainable energy sources and internet to support diagnostics, therapeutics, and data sharing; strengthening multi-sectoral partnerships, and training health workers to promptly diagnose and treat childhood infections and malnutrition.
Invest decisively in prevention, preparedness, and response to public health emergencies, especially cholera, as a strategic priority. This includes strengthening multi-sectoral coordination, domestic financing, WASH infrastructure, critical supplies, community engagement, and humanitarian access. Without such investment, routine health services will remain vulnerable to repeated and severe disruptions.