The first World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Health Forum is due to open in Rwandan capital Kigali Tuesday, which is widely considered an important platform to discuss innovative strategies on persistent challenges in public health in the African region.

The two-day forum, organized under the theme "Putting People First: The Road to Universal Health Coverage in Africa", aims to promote reinforced country ownership and governance for health, and explore concrete ways for partners to contribute in reforming the work of WHO in the African region.

The event is expected to deliberate on improving health security, progress towards equity and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and the unfinished agenda of communicable diseases while exploring the new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, and tackling social and economic determinants of health on the continent, according to a statement released by Rwanda's ministry of Health ahead of the meeting.

"This forum, first in its kind, is a brand new opportunity for Africans to learn from each other and ensure better health of our people. We understand the importance of the issues that will be discussed at the conference and decisions that will be adopted upon its conclusion," said Diane Gashumba, Rwanda's Minister of Health.

"Rwanda still has some issues to address in health and this will be a good opportunity for us to interact and learn from other countries' experience in improving our health system," she said.

Participants of the forum will include ministers of health and finance, UN Agencies, intergovernmental agencies, academicians, civil society players, philanthropic foundations, private sector and youth health key players.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2017)