AFRICA LOOKS BACK FIFTY YEARS
- The decades of the nineteen sixties and seventies were characterized by economic growth and progress in health care; it ended with the historic Alma Ata declaration (1978).
- The next two decades brought economic woes with structural adjustment, unexpected sociopolitical upheavals and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
- The current decade began with the Millennium Development Goals (2000) that should enable Africa overcome a persisting health crisis, provided people are mobilized and resources urgently channeled to local communities.
THE WAY FORWARD FOR AFRICA
- Adopt objectives, strategies and tactics for health and development, for all and by all communities, with a view to self reliance.
- Put in place a global network of actors – promoters, investors, providers, clients – that would ensure sustainable resources for local communities and promote emulation and competition between them.
- Accelerate the achievement of the millennium development goals by involving all hierarchical levels in multidisciplinary, multisectoral, community based interventions targeting health and development together.
We will all gain and Africa will be the winner!
