Thank you my brother
@HonAdenDuale for joining us at
#WHA79, and for
#Kenya's continued commitment to universal health coverage and investment in the health system strengthening.
@WHO will continue to support, including on the national regulatory system,
#Ebola response preparedness and building the regional hub in Nairobi.
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Met with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the margins of the 79th World Health Assembly, outlining our key priorities for strengthened collaboration with the global health body.
Discussions focused on three core areas: advancing Kenya's pharmaceutical regulatory maturity, strengthening Ebola preparedness and deepening the strategic role of the WHO Regional Hub in Nairobi.
A key priority was our pursuit of WHO Global Benchmarking Tool Maturity Level 3 status for its national regulatory system, led by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.
I emphasized that achieving ML3 is critical to enabling local pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing, improving regulatory efficiency and positioning Kenya as a regional hub for quality-assured medical products.
This aligns with H.E. President William Ruto's role as African Union Champion for Local Manufacturing, driving the continent toward producing at least 60% of its health products, vaccines and medicines by 2040 to reduce import dependence.
While acknowledging WHO's ongoing technical support, Kenya requested accelerated assistance to finalize the ML3 process, including targeted capacity building and expedited technical reviews.
On Ebola preparedness, I commended WHO's leadership in responding to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and outlined our strengthened measures, including enhanced surveillance at points of entry, rapid response coordination and community awareness, given our status as a regional transport and trade hub.
We also discussed the future of the WHO Regional Hub in Nairobi, reaffirming our appreciation for its presence and Nairobi's role as a centre for multilateral health coordination, humanitarian response and emergency preparedness in Africa.
I reaffirmed our commitment to continued partnership with WHO, underscoring that strong multilateral cooperation remains essential in addressing global financing pressures, climate-related health risks and emerging disease threats.
I was joined by H.E. Dr. Fancy Too, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kenya to the UN in Geneva, Dr. Nicholus Muraguri, Advisor Global Health Diplomacy at the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and Dr. Jean Gitau Kenya's Health Attaché.