By Muhammad Amaan
The Founder and Coordinator of the Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) Dr Aminu Magashi Garba was elected as Secretary and Member Board of Directors of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Consortium.
A statement by Sadiq Sani Malami, AHBN’s Budget and Infographics Associate, said the result of the election by members of the consortium was communicated to Dr Magashi by Dr Jennyfer Ambe, the Chair of the Board of Directors.
The GHSA Consortium is a voluntary and open collective of nongovernmental entities dedicated to values of collaboration, excellence, innovation, and commitment to prevent, detect, prepare for, and respond to disease outbreaks and other acute public health risks.
The Consortium works with partners through the GHSA, to promote implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) Pathway, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, and other health security frameworks and initiatives.
The Consortium is a group of more than 70 countries, international organizations and non-government organizations, and private sector companies that have come together to achieve the vision of a world safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases.
Dr Magashi and the organisation he is leading, the AHBN have been championing strengthening accountability for health security in Africa and Nigeria.
AHBN was a co-organiser to the Nigeria’s COVID-19 conference in December 2021 and has empowered civil society groups in 8 African countries on the use of a regional health security accountability framework which improved governance, coordination, accountability and transparency at country level.
The organisation is also a member of the Global Health Council and CORE Group and Partnership for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (PMNCH), through which the AHBN promote learning and accountability.
Dr Magashi is a member of the Nigeria’s Sector Wide Approach (SWaP) Technical Working Group on Health Security and looks forward to support global south participation in the global architecture of health security as well as promote information sharing, including opportunity for capacity building.