On May 3, private health sector representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda formally launched the East Africa Healthcare Federation (EAHF) in Kampala, Uganda. The Federation brings private sector stakeholders together under one umbrella body to advocate for policy change and to champion the interests of the private health sector in the region.

Historically, in many countries, national and sub-national groups collaborating to improve health care and address health workforce issues have found it challenging to ensure appropriate and consistent private sector representation due to the large number and different types of organizations that make up the private health sector. In recent years, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have all established or strengthened national bodies to help bring the private sector voice more effectively to the table. The Federation provides opportunities to share experiences, challenges, and innovations even more widely across the region. The EAHF currently includes members from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The launch was one of the outcomes of the first East Africa Healthcare Federation Conference held May 1st –3rd in Kampala. Since then the EAHF members have organized the annual EAHF Conferences on a rotational basis in their own countries. The EAHF 2013 Conference was facilitated by APHFTA and held in Dar es Salaam, EAHF 2014 took place in Nairobi and was hosted by KHF and last year the EAHF 2015 Conference was hosted by RHF in Kigali. The next EAHF 2016 Conference is organized by UHF and will take place on June 5-8 in Kampala.

Besides hosting a key regional private healthcare event the EAHF is making strides towards an inclusive EAC policy whereby the easy of doing business in the region will increase and healthcare investments and development can prosper.