JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 18 August 2026 — Medicines for Africa today announced that Novartis has joined the Africa Patient Safety Summit 2026 as Platinum Sponsor. The Summit will take place on 16–17 September 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The partnership supports an African-led effort to reduce preventable medication-related harm, including harm associated with substandard and falsified medical products, and to strengthen patient safety throughout the medicines lifecycle.
Patient safety depends on collective effort across the medicines ecosystem. Regulators, patients, healthcare professionals, health systems, policymakers, researchers, manufacturers and other partners each see different points at which risks emerge. Each has a role in identifying solutions and preventing harm.
Industry has a critical role in that ecosystem.
Pharmaceutical companies contribute expertise across the medicines lifecycle, from research and development and manufacturing to medicine quality, pharmacovigilance, medical information, supply and innovation. Their collaboration with regulators and health systems can strengthen safety surveillance, improve the identification of risks and support earlier action to protect patients.
Novartis's support will help bring this expertise into a wider African conversation involving the institutions, professions and communities that shape how medicines are developed, regulated, supplied and used.
“Patient safety is a shared responsibility, and meaningful progress requires every part of the healthcare and medicines ecosystem to work together. Having Novartis at the table brings knowledge, capabilities and experience that can help translate patient-safety priorities into practical solutions. This partnership strengthens our ability to take coordinated action and prevent avoidable harm to patients.”
The Summit will convene regulators, policymakers, healthcare professionals, industry representatives, researchers, patient representatives and health-system leaders to share evidence and experience, identify shared priorities, clarify institutional responsibilities and define practical actions.
The September meeting begins a structured process that will continue through a 90-day follow-up. The resulting work will also contribute to the larger continental meeting planned for 2027.
The collaboration comes at an important time for Africa. Countries are strengthening regulatory capacity, medicines supply chains, pharmacovigilance and continental institutions, including the African Medicines Agency. Patient safety must remain central to this work and to every stage of the medicines lifecycle.
Novartis's participation reflects a principle at the heart of the Summit: partnership is essential when the goal is safer medicines and care.
“Improving patient safety takes shared commitment across the healthcare ecosystem. Our role at Novartis, is to bring our experience and commitment to responsible, ethical and patient-centred healthcare into that ecosystem. This reinforces our commitment to work with like-minded organizations, like the Africa Patient Safety Summit, to strengthen patient safety, improve outcomes and ensure that the needs of patients remain at the heart of healthcare progress.”
The Africa Patient Safety Summit is designed to create space for this collaboration. It will bring different perspectives together, examine the barriers that allow preventable harm to persist, share effective approaches and build partnerships capable of delivering sustainable change.
Patient safety is everyone's responsibility. Everyone has a role to play.
The Africa Patient Safety Summit will take place on 16–17 September 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda. It is hosted and convened by Medicines for Africa in partnership with the African Medicines Agency.
About the Africa Patient Safety Summit
The Africa Patient Safety Summit is a continental platform bringing together policymakers, regulators, healthcare professionals, industry, researchers, patient representatives and other stakeholders to advance patient safety and reduce preventable harm across Africa.
The Summit provides a forum for evidence-based dialogue, collaboration and practical action across the medicines and healthcare ecosystem.