African Health Problems, African Solutions

by John Kiwanuka Ssemakula, 24 March 2002

An article in the BMJ states that with sufficient will and commitment, Africa can successfully address its own health problems. Drawing on the experience of the Northern Indian state of Kerala which has achieved health indicators almost as good as the US, despite spending $28 per person compared to $3295 in USA and having a per capita income 99% less.

According to the WHO poverty is the greatest risk to health in Africa and this can only be countered by economic improvements. But merely accumulating wealth is not enough, the article states, there must be a commitment to equity and distribution of economic wealth to alleviate property and reduce it as a health risk.

In order to tackle the unequal access of healthcare within African nations, effective health systems are required to deliver services to the people. This will require development and capacity building especially in terms of training health personnel. The article ends by quoting Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa “African Solution to African health problems”.

African medical schools such as Ibadan (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana) and Makerere (Uganda) were amongst the leading institutions in the developing world in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s engaged in research of health problems in Africa. There is an urgent need to revitalize and revive these institutions as a source of a new generation of health professionals who will create the new knowledge and ideas relevant to tackling African health problems.

Africa can solve its own health problems