Strategies of the Commissions: The Commission of Global Health An Improving Global Health in Africa The persistence of diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis has remained a severe obstacle to Africa’s development. To this burden has been added the devastating personal and societal costs resulting from AIDS, the consequences of which stand to undermine all efforts to promote development in Africa. The result has been a dramatic decrease in life expectancy in Africa and a significant new burden on African health systems and economies. Substantial efforts are needed to confront the health challenges that Africa faces, including the need to enhance immunization efforts directed at polio and other preventable diseases. Therefore, recognizing that HIV/AIDS affects all aspects of Africa’s future development should be a factor in all aspects of our support for Africa. With this in mind, we commit to: A. Helping Africa combat the effects of HIV/AIDS by - Supporting programs that help mothers and children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including children orphaned by AIDS; - Supporting the strengthening of training facilities for the recruiting and training of health professionals; - Supporting the development, adoption and implementation of gender-sensitive, multisectoral HIV/AIDS programs for prevention, care, and treatment; - Supporting high level political engagement to increase awareness and reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS; - Supporting initiatives to improve technical capacity, including disease surveillance; - Supporting efforts to develop strong partnerships with employers in increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and in providing support to victims and their families; - Supporting efforts that integrate approaches that address both HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; and, - Helping to enhance the capacity of Africa to address the challenges that HIV/AIDS poses to peace and security in Africa. B. Supporting African efforts to build sustainable health systems in order to deliver effective disease interventions by - Pressing ahead with current work with the international pharmaceutical industry, affected African countries and civil society to promote the availability of an adequate supply of lifesaving medicines in an affordable and medically effective manner; - Supporting African countries in helping to promote more effective, and cost-effective, health interventions to the most vulnerable sectors of society – including reducing maternal and infant mortality and morbidity; - Continuing support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and working to ensure that the Fund continues to increase the effectiveness of its operations and learns from its experience; C. Working to improve food security in Africa by - Working with African countries to integrate food security in poverty reduction efforts and promote a policy and institutional environment that enables poor people to derive better livelihoods from agriculture and rural development; - Working with appropriate international organizations in responding to the problem of food shortages in Southern Africa in year 2003-2006; - Working with African countries to expand efforts to improve the quality and diversity of diets with micro-nutrients and by improving fortification technologies; - Supporting African efforts to establish food safety and quality control systems, including helping countries develop legislation, enforcement procedures and appropriate institutional frameworks; and, - Supporting efforts to improve and better disseminate agricultural technology. - Supporting African efforts to increase Africa’s access to the Global Fund and helping to enhance Africa’s capacity to participate in and benefit from the Fund; - Providing assistance to strengthen the capacity of the public sector to monitor the quality of health services offered by both public and private providers; and, - Supporting and encouraging the twinning of hospitals and other health organizations between G8 and African countries. D. Accelerating the elimination and mitigation in Africa of polio, river blindness and other diseases or health deficiencies by - Providing, on a fair and equitable basis, expertise and assistance to eliminate polio by 2005; - Supporting relevant public-private partnerships for the immunization of children and the elimination of micronutrient deficiencies in Africa; - Supporting health research on diseases prevalent in Africa, with a view to narrowing the health research gap, including by expanding health research networks to focus on African health issues, and by making more extensive use of researchers based in Africa. <<<  back to "NC Commissions"