Dr. Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba, the CEO and founder of Friends Africa, joined HuffPostLive at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday to discuss the major health challenges facing Africa today.
Ikemba's pan-African non profit focuses on three of the continent's biggest killers -- aids, tuberculosis and malaria -- and has been incredibly successful in raising money to combat the problems so far.
"We need to create an Africa that's free of these diseases," Ikemba said.
Ikemba, however, did recognize that health care providers across the region are facing immense hurdles. Working in an environment with poor infrastructure, for example, significantly raises the costs of operations, she explained.
Ikemba therefore believes that innovation will play a crucial role in overcoming infrastructural and developmental challenges in Africa that are impeding the fight against diseases. "People around us are constantly dying," she said, adding that there's no time to wait until economic growth is high enough to finance health care.
Watch Ikemba's full interview above and take a look at the liveblog for more conversations from Davos.
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