Lifestyle mental wellbeing & Aging
Health Systems for a Changing Africa
Africa is growing older, urbanizing faster and facing a rising tide of chronic disease. The challenge ahead is not only how to extend life — but how to ensure that every additional year is lived in health, dignity, and independence.
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At Savanna Global Health Institute (SGHI), we are building systems that help people live longer, healthier lives through prevention, early diagnosis, and care models designed for the realities of today’s Africa.
Problem
Across Africa, lifestyle and aging-related health challenges are growing rapidly as populations urbanize and life expectancy increases.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) — including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension — now account for over 37% of all deaths on the continent, a sharp increase from 24% in 2000.
Changing diets, sedentary lifestyles, pollution exposure, and rising tobacco and alcohol use have created an epidemic of preventable chronic illness.
Older adults face limited access to health insurance, inadequate social protection, and fragmented support systems — leaving them vulnerable to chronic illness, disability, and poverty.
In Kenya, NCDs contribute to 39% of total mortality and are projected to overtake infectious diseases as the leading cause of death by 2030.
Meanwhile, Africa’s population aged 60 and above will triple by 2050, yet few countries have systems equipped for long-term or geriatric care.
At the same time, health systems remain underfunded and understaffed, with fragmented data and weak integration between preventive and curative care. Most primary healthcare networks were built to fight infectious diseases — not to manage chronic conditions that require continuous, person-centered care.
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Without reform, this double burden of disease threatens to reverse hard-won gains in life expectancy, equity, and economic stability.
Why It Matters
Non-communicable diseases cost African economies an estimated US $50 billion annually in lost productivity.
The human cost is even greater: millions of people living with preventable suffering, families pushed into poverty by long-term treatment costs, and older adults left without care or dignity.
Yet most NCDs — and many age-related illnesses — are preventable or manageable with the right systems in place:
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Early screening and diagnosis
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Affordable, continuous care
Strong primary healthcare and financing mechanisms
Digital tools that connect data, providers, and patients
Building those systems today means securing the health and prosperity of future generations.
SGHI’s solution
SGHI’s work focuses on reorienting primary healthcare toward NCD prevention and healthy aging through technology, financing reform, and cross-sector partnerships.
Integrated Primary Care for Chronic Disease and Aging
We collaborate with governments and partners to strengthen frontline care models that combine prevention, diagnosis, and long-term management of NCDs. This includes training providers, integrating NCD services into primary health centers, and embedding health promotion in community programs.
Digital Health and Data Systems
We promote digital registries, surveillance tools, and analytics platforms that track NCD trends, monitor outcomes, and inform targeted interventions while safeguarding data privacy and equity.
Sustainable Health Financing
SGHI supports efforts to expand financial protection for long-term and chronic-care services, advancing mechanisms such as risk pooling, performance-based purchasing, and community-based insurance to reduce out-of-pocket spending.
Market Access and Innovation
Together with Tech Care for All Africa, SGHI drives market access for life-saving products and technologies addressing hypertension, diabetes, and cancer.
By supporting policy alignment, private-sector partnerships, and local manufacturing, we ensure that innovation reaches those who need it most.
Policy, Research, and Advocacy
SGHI works with ministries and stakeholders to develop evidence-based national strategies for NCD prevention, healthy aging, and health workforce adaptation — ensuring Africa’s systems evolve to meet demographic realities.
Our approach is holistic, inclusive, and scalable, aligning clinical innovation with financing, digital transformation, and policy reform to strengthen resilience across the health system.