A Rich Nation, a Poor Continent

Abstract

If President Bush gets beyond the typical rhetoric concerning the plight of Africans hell discover that poverty throughout the continent is a matter of life and death — indeed mainly death. While the average life expectancy in the United States is now 77 years it is less than 50 years in most of Africa and less than 40 years in some of the AIDS-ravaged countries. Until the pandemics of AIDS tuberculosis malaria and other killer diseases are brought under control in Africa economic development and political stability will remain crippled. A breakthrough on disease control conversely would help to unleash a virtuous circle of rising productivity better education lower fertility rates — and then lead to further increases in health and prosperity. Yet Africas poverty makes this an unbeatable problem without more help from the United States and other wealthy countries. In the United States annual public spending on health care averages about $2000 per person according to the World Health Organization. In Africa public health spending is around $10 per person per year — not enough to keep the population alive. Countries throughout Africa are desperately trying to do more but simply cant afford to when their citizens incomes average less than $1 per day and when their struggling governments must repay foreign debts to rich nations instead of tending to their sick and dying. (excerpt)