South Africa hosts SADC Health Ministers’ Meeting on regional health challenges, 23 to 24 Feb

South Africa will next week (23-24 February 2026) host a joint meeting of the Ministers of Health and other Ministers responsible for HIV and AIDS within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss a number of priority health issues, review progress made on regional health commitments and strengthen collaboration in addressing shared public health challenges.

The region continues to face a burden of disease characterised by the triple threat of high HIV/AIDS prevalence, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria. This is aggravated by rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and climate-related health risks of waterborne diseases such as cholera.

The SADC region accounts for at least one-third of all people living with HIV and AIDS globally, while eight member states are among the countries with the highest rates of TB. On the other hand, about 75% of the population in the region remains at risk of contracting malaria, a deadly but preventable and treatable disease.

Hosting the meeting in South Africa provides an opportunity for the country to demonstrate its leadership within the region and to actively shape the regional health agenda in alignment with national and SADC health priorities. The successful hosting of G20 Meetings in 2025 has created momentum for South Africa to continue to play a leading role in shaping the international landscape.

The regional health ministers, joined by representatives from international health organisations including the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF will also discuss issues such as improved coordination of disease outbreak response to as part of ongoing efforts to ensure timely sharing of critical information during health emergencies to prevent and manage cross-border diseases.

Some of the topics to dominate the discussions at the two-day summit include ending TB Epidemic in the Southern African Region, Malaria control and elimination, Implementation of the SADC Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Strategy and Scorecard, Regional Health Financing Hub, Assessment of the status of health in SADC Corrections facilities or prisons, etc.

Details of the summit are as follows:

Date:     Monday, 23 – Tuesday, 24 February 2026
Venue:  Sandton Hotel, 5 Benmore Rd, Benmore Gardens, Johannesburg
Time:    09h00 – 16h00

Members of the media wishing to attend the summit are urged to confirm attendance by completing an online form on the link by Friday, 20 February 2026 at 13h00. https://mrs.gcis.gov.za/?q=sadc-health-ministers-meeting

Accreditation tags will be collected in-person at the designated accreditation centre located within Southern Sun Sandton, at 123 Rivonia Road, Sandton from midday on Friday, 20 February until Monday, 23 February 2026.

For RSVP, please contact: Mr Tlou Tlhako 0713827425/ tlou.tlhako@health.gov.za

For more information and media enquiries, please contact:

Mr Foster Mohale
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 072 432 3792
E-mail: Foster.mohale@health.gov.za

Mr Sello Lediga
Health Ministry Spokesperson
Cell: 082 353 9859
E-mail: Sello.Lediga@health.gov.za

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