Health Summit in Abuja to Boost Health Innovations in Africa

Gatefield, a public strategy and media group, will gather health policymakers, innovators, and creative leaders in Abuja on 21 and 22 October. They will discuss ways to expand successful health programs and integrate them into larger health systems.

The 2026 Gatefield Health Summit, themed "Scaling What Works," will focus on the policy, finance, and institutional issues that stop proven health solutions from spreading across Africa.

The summit will also be available online. It aims to bring together stakeholders to explore how grassroots efforts, digital health tools, and local solutions can go beyond just isolated successes and benefit more communities.

Building on 2025 Discussions

This summit follows the first one held last year, where experts and policymakers urged for stronger local health financing, community-led innovation, and better use of data and local expertise to build strong health systems.

At the 2025 summit, participants expressed worries about the sustainability of health programs that rely too much on outside funding. They called for more investment in local solutions and for communities to take the lead in health programs.

The talks also pointed out that African countries need to use evidence, research, and local expertise more effectively to shape health policies and design health systems.

This year's summit will focus on what is needed to take effective programs from individual projects to wider usage.

Omei Bongos, Gatefield’s Public Health Lead, said many effective health solutions are already being developed and used across Africa but face barriers that stop their growth.

Ms Bongos noted that bringing together different health stakeholders would help create the right conditions to expand these interventions. "Effective, high-impact health solutions are already thriving across Africa. But their growth is stalled by a missing institutional backbone, from essential capital to conducive policy frameworks."

"By uniting key stakeholders across the ecosystem, this summit seeks to drive these solutions into every community," she added.

Longevity

A key part of the two-day event will be the launch of a new Gatefield report. This report will look into the reasons behind premature deaths in Africa, especially in Nigeria.

The findings will guide discussions on longevity and the broader factors that affect how long and well people live.

The program will also address issues beyond medical care, such as food and agriculture systems and their role in tackling the growing problem of non-communicable diseases.

It will explore how film, digital culture, and other creative industries can influence health behavior and share public health messages with larger audiences.

Speakers

Confirmed speakers include Siddhartha Prakash, Head of Global Health at the World Intellectual Property Organization; Senator Ipalibo Banigo, Chair of the Nigerian Senate Health Committee; Shina Arogundade, CEO of MyItura; Osita Okonkwo, Country Director of Nutrition International; and Jamila Yakubu, Director of Program Medicines at Zipline.

Other global health leaders are also expected to join the event.