Global healthcare company Roche is assembling leading journalists, policymakers, development financiers and health experts in Nairobi for the 2026 Africa Press Day, placing the economic value of investing in health at the centre of continental development conversations.

The high-level forum starts tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3 at the Radisons Blue Hotel, with Jacqueline Wambua, General Manager for East Africa at Roche, expected to welcome participants to the two day event at the opening ceremony among a number of several other speakers including South African conversation strategist Nozipho Tshabalala under the theme, Health is Wealth.

Her Excellency, Dorothy Nyong'o, Managing Trustee of the Africa Cancer Foundation and First Lady of Kisumu County, is scheduled to deliver the welcome address with focus on breast cancer, a condition she describes as both a public health and economic threat.

“As the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in Africa, late diagnosis is costing us lives, productivity and stability,” she noted, urging stronger political commitment and coordinated systems through platforms such as the Africa Breast Cancer Council.

There will be several plenary sessions with the first examining the economic returns of health investment. That session is expected to be moderated by Paul Chilwesa, Head of Policy, Population Health and Health Systems Strengthening at Roche Africa. The panel will be featuring Maturin Tchoumi, Area Head for Africa at Roche; Dr Caroline Mbindyo, CEO of AMREF Health Innovations; Sara Ochieng of the International Finance Corporation at the World Bank Group; and Oluranti Doherty of Afreximbank.

The speakers are expected to highlight new Africa-specific data linking untreated disease and late detection to billions in lost GDP, while arguing that healthy populations drive productivity, business growth and fiscal resilience. “No African economy can afford to ignore the return on investing in people’s health,” one panelist expressed.

The second session, “Health is Resilience”, is focused on pandemic preparedness and diagnostic capacity following the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement at the 78th World Health Assembly. It will be moderated by Dr Chris Odero of Roche Diagnostics Kenya. The contributors will include Dr Allan Pamba, Executive Vice-President Africa at Roche Diagnostics; Dr Lucy Mazaba Mazyanga of Africa CDC; Dr Sultani Matendechero of Kenya’s Ministry of Health; Dr Dick Chamla of WHO AFRO; and Paul Ngwakum of UNICEF AFRO.

The discussion aims to underscore sustainable testing systems and disease surveillance as essential to withstanding future health shocks. Participants warned that rising outbreaks across Africa demand proactive, well-financed preparedness strategies.

Another session; ‘Equity in access formed the basis of “Health is Equity”, exploring who benefits from care and who is left behind’ will be hosted by Matthieu Galais of Roche Tunisia & Libya. The speakers lined up for that conversation are Dr Saad Chaacho of Mediot Technology, Dr Jalila Ben Khelil of Tunisia and Joanna Bichsel of Kasha Global examined barriers such as distance to facilities, screening costs and specialist shortages. The consensus: universal health coverage must translate into timely diagnosis and dignified care for all.

In a dedicated dialogue on Scaling Women’s Integrated Cancer Services (WICS), Meriem Hanchi of Roche Algeria, Dr Boni Simon Pierre of Côte d’Ivoire and Dr Joan-Paula Bor Malenya of Kenya will share lessons from pilot implementations integrating cancer services into primary healthcare. The initiative will be presented as a scalable blueprint for high-impact, digitally enabled health investment.

The final plenary, dubbed “Health is Strength”, will address health sovereignty and African-led science. This will be chaired by Thom Renwick of Roche South Africa. The panelists comprise Lisa Slater, Program Lead for African Genomics at Roche; Dr Sarah Nietz of BIGOSA; Professor Salima Bouzeghoub of the Pasteur Institute in Algeria; and Dr Hela Hammami of AWGHO. They discuss how genomics, local research and smarter resource allocation can reinforce independent, resilient health systems.

On Thursday, participants will visit the EMPOWER Clinic at Mbagathi Hospital, where digital platforms are linking early detection, diagnosis and treatment into a nationally adopted model for women’s cancer care. The visit will feature an executive roundtable with H.E. Dorothy Nyong’o; Dr Matiko Riro of Savannah Informatics; Dr Moses Owino, Director of Medical Services for Nairobi County; and Jacqueline Wambua of Roche.

Organisers say the Africa Press Day is designed to equip journalists with evidence, data and field insight to strengthen reporting on health financing and reform. As African governments confront fiscal constraints alongside growing health demands, the Nairobi meeting is expected to reinforce a central message: investing in health is not just a social obligation, it is a strategic economic imperative for the continent’s future.