Establishment of the African Public Health Emergency Fund

The Regional Committee; by resolution AFR/RC61/R3 requested the Regional Director to set up the African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF) including taking appropriate actions to ensure that the fund is fully operational. The resolution also requested the Regional Director to report regularly to the Regional Committee on the operations of the APHEF. The first progress report was submitted to; and discussed by; the Sixty-second session of the Regional Committee in Luanda; Angola; in 2012. The members of the Monitoring Committee of the Fund (MCF): the Ministers of Health of Gabon; Namibia and Nigeria; the Ministers of Finance of Algeria; Cameroon and South Africa; and the Chairman of the Programme Subcommittee; were appointed at the Sixty-second session of the Regional Committee. In the actions proposed in the first progress report submitted to the Regional Committee; the Regional Director was requested to convene the first meeting of the MCF to deliberate on the modalities for the commencement of operations of the APHEF. Furthermore; the Sixty-second session of the Regional Committee reiterated the mandate to the Regional Director to continue African Development Bank to take up the proposed role of Trustee of the APHEF. In the interim; WHO was designated to mobilize; manage and disburse contributions to the APHEF using its financial management and accounting systems

Strengthening the monitoring of progress on the health-related MDGs in the African Region

There is an emerging view that progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the African Region may be better than what is currently being reflected by official statistics. This is believed to be a result of the lack of recently updated data on the MDGs in the Region. In order to strengthen the monitoring of the MDGs; it is important to look for viable options for the timely collection; processing; analysis of relevant and quality data; and the dissemination of information products based on this data. It is essential to improve the institutional capacities in countries in order to overcome the weak data sources and data management. The monitoring of progress on the MDGs could be strengthened by: improving the content; frequency; quality and efficiency of national health surveys; strengthening birth and death registration and cause of death scertainment; improving the availability of demographic data by completing the 2010 census round; improving surveillance and service statistics; enhancing the monitoring of health systems strengthening; and; strengthening country analytical and evaluation capacity; and data use for decision-making. The latter requires the establishment and strengthening of national health observatories charged with health statistics analysis; synthesis; dissemination; sharing; and use of information and evidence

Progress on the Health-related MDGs in the African Region

Progress towards the achievement of the health-related MDGs in the African Region is slow. Currently six African countries are on track to achieve the MDG target of reducing child mortality. There is no progress on the MDG target on reducing maternal mortality. Eleven countries have started to observe declines or stabilization in HIV prevalence trends among the 13 countries that have complete trend data. A third of the population with advanced HIV infection had access to antiretroviral drugs in 2007. There were increases in the proportions of children under fi ve sleeping under insecticide treated bednets between 1999 and 2006 in all 18 countries with trend data; although coverage rates were lower than 50. Few countries have shown suffi cient progress on targets related to reducing hunger; use of improved water and sanitation facilities. Countries and their partners should increase resources significantly to strengthen health systems; maternal and child health services; combat HIV/AIDS; malaria; and TB; tackle the broader determinants of health. Measures to monitor country progress towards the MDGs should also be improved by a major effort at strengthening data sources and capacity for data management

The Ouagadougou Declaration on Primary Health Care and Health Systems in Africa: Achieving better Health for Africa in the New Millennium

The Ouagadougou Declaration on Primary Health Care and Health Systems in Africa focuses on nine major priority areas: 1) leadership and governance for health; 2) health services delivery; 3) human resources for health; 4) health financing; 5) health information systems; 6) health technologies; 7) community ownership and participation; 8) partnerships for health development; and 9) research for health. This paper describes a framework constructed for implementing the necessary activities in each of these priority areas; and proposes recommendations for consideration by Member States in the development of their own country frameworks. The frameworkfor implementing activities related to health information and research for health which have been taken into account in the Algiers Framework are discussed separately elsewhere in this issue

Determinants of health insurance ownership among South African women

Background: Studies conducted in developed countries using economic models show that individual- and household- level variables are important determinants of health insurance ownership. There is however a dearth of such studies in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between health insurance ownership and the demographic, economic and educational characteristics of South African women. Methods: The analysis was based on data from a cross-sectional national household sample derived from the South African Health Inequalities Survey (SANHIS). The study subjects consisted of 3,489 women, aged between 16 and 64 years. It was a non-interventional, qualitative response econometric study. The outcome measure was the probability of a respondent's ownership of a health insurance policy. Results: The χ2 test for goodness of fit indicated satisfactory prediction of the estimated logit model. The coefficients of the covariates for area of residence, income, education, environment rating, age, smoking and marital status were positive, and all statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05. Women who had standard 10 education and above (secondary), high incomes and lived in affluent provinces and permanent accommodations, had a higher likelihood of being insured. Conclusion: Poverty reduction programmes aimed at increasing women's incomes in poor provinces; improving living environment (e.g. potable water supplies, sanitation, electricity and housing) for women in urban informal settlements; enhancing women's access to education; reducing unemployment among women; and increasing effective coverage of family planning services, will empower South African women to reach a higher standard of living and in doing so increase their economic access to health insurance policies and the associated health services

The background to the Algiers Declaration and the Framework for its Implementation to Improve Health Systems

The Algiers Declaration on Narrowing the Knowledge Gap to Improve Africa's Health was adopted during a Conference held in Algiers; Algeria; in June 2008. The Conference; which brought Ministers from the African Region together with researchers; nongovernmental organizations; donors; and the private sector; renewed commitments to narrow the knowledge gap in order to improve health development and health equity in the Region. This paper describes the background to the Algiers Declaration and the Framework for its implementation and their signifi cance in assisting countries' eff orts to strengthen health systems in the Region

Progress Report on Implementation of Regional Committee Resolution AFR/RC59/R3 on Accelerated Malaria Control

Several resolutions have been adopted and commitments made to scale up malaria control towards elimination in the African Region. These include United Nations; African Union; regional economic communities; World Health Assembly and Regional Committee resolutions. WHO AFRO provides support to countries; regional economic communities and the African Union in planning; implementing monitoring and evaluating their malaria control and elimination strategies. WHO also provides guidance and support for capacity building and resource mobilization towards reduction of the burden of malaria. As a result of scaling up evidence-based and high- impact malaria interventions; the overall estimated incidence of malaria in the African Region fell by 33 from 2000 to 2010 and the upward trend of the disease was reversed. Furthermore; 12 countries in the African Region are on track to reduce malaria incidence by at least 50-75 by 2015. The action points of Resolution RC 59/R3 on Accelerated Malaria Control: Towards Elimination in the African Region remain relevant and should continue to guide countries in the context of their broader health; development and poverty reduction agenda