BMJ  2005;331:1-2 (2 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7507.1

Editorial

The future of health care in Africa

Depends on making commitments work in and outside Africa

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

As the group of eight leading industrialised nations (G8) meets for its summit at Gleneagles, Scotland, next week Africa is at a crossroads. It faces a double edged crisis: its healthcare workforce is rapidly depleting, and its health systems are weak, fragile, and hanging on a precipice. A direct consequence of this is that the indicators for health development in the continent are dismal. About one in six African children die before their fifth birthday, with half of these dying from diseases preventable by vaccines; and one woman dies every two minutes from complications of pregnancy and delivery.1 From all such indications and current evidence, it would appear that very few countries in the continent will achieve the millennium development goals.2 The goal to reduce deaths among children aged under 5 (figure) is just one example.


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  		Progress in reducing mortality in children aged under 5 years, comparing . . . [Full text of this article]

 

Lola Dare, executive secretary

African Council for Sustainable Health Development (ACOSHED), 29 Aare Avenue, New Bodja Estate, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
(L.Dare.acoshed@yahoo.com)

Eric Buch, health adviser

New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Midrand, Pretoria, South Africa


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