Working within the mandate given by the Conference of Health Ministers and member states, ECSA taps into regional and international expertise to promote sharing of experiences and best practices, identifying priorities, building capacity of member states and advocating for improved polices and programmes in the region. Other services offered by ECSA to stakeholders in the region include:-

• Providing a regional platform for identification of and building consensus on health priorities in the region through its technical and policy forums namely the Forum for best practices, the Directors Joint Consultative Committee and the ECSA Health Ministers Conference.
  

• Provision of technical support to member states, linking and mobilizing expertise in health systems development, Human Resources for Health, Reproductive Health, Newborn Health, HIV/AIDS & TB, Non Communicable Diseases, Nutrition, Health policy Advocacy.
  

• Capacity building of member states and partner institutions through training, training of trainers, team-based training, leadership training, curriculum review and development, learning exchange visits.
• Facilitation of research and surveys on various health policies and programmes in the region to facilitate policy and programme review and improvement.
  
• Provision of brokerage and networking opportunities to diverse health sector players in the region through regular, technical and policy level forums bringing together the regions leaders in health facilitated by ECSA and partners.
  
• Providing member states with a forum for reviewing progress on regional and international health targets including MDGs.
  

Each of the programmes areas exists to support member states in addressing regional health challenges in a harmonized, collective, collaborative and strategic manner.

 Each programme area is supported by a programme expert committee made up of experts and focal persons from member states. The committees guide and monitor programme activities.