Africa and health: a Commission to accelerate success

Abstract

The final results of a 4-year project to analyse the challenges and opportunities for health in sub-Saharan Africa are now published as a Lancet Commission—The Path to Longer and Healthier Lives for All Africans by 2030—led by African physicians, health scientists, and policy makers. 1 Agyepong IA Sewankambo N Binagwaho A et al. The path to longer and healthier lives for all Africans by 2030: the Lancet Commission on the future of health in sub-Saharan Africa. Lancet. 2017; (published online Sept 13.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31509-X Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (113) Google Scholar Their conclusion is one of qualified optimism, grounded in a rigorous appraisal of new evidence and past experience. The vision of the Commission is that Africans should expect the same opportunities for health by 2030 as all other peoples. But that hopeful message is based on a further proposition—that more of the same, in terms of policies and programmes, is not enough. The path to longer and healthier lives for all Africans by 2030: the Lancet Commission on the future of health in sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa's health challenges are numerous and wide-ranging. Most sub-Saharan countries face a double burden of traditional, persisting health challenges, such as infectious diseases, malnutrition, and child and maternal mortality, and emerging challenges from an increasing prevalence of chronic conditions, mental health disorders, injuries, and health problems related to climate change and environmental degradation. Although there has been real progress on many health indicators, life expectancy and most population health indicators remain behind most low-income and middle-income countries in other parts of the world. Full-Text PDF