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with attribution to From Africa Recovery, Vol.15# 1-2 (June 2001), page 13 Less preaching and more money "Africa's health crisis is an extreme crisis and cannot be handled by Africa alone," argued Prof. Jeffrey Sachs at a meeting on the "Economics of Health in Africa" at UN headquarters on 17 April. It is a mistake, he said, to think that greater political commitment by African governments will by itself overcome the continent's health crisis. What is needed above all are far more external financial resources, stated the prominent Harvard University professor, who is also chairman of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, established by Ms. Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting was organized by the WHO in cooperation with the UN Economic and Social Council and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. For much of the past 20 years, Mr. Sachs said, donors encouraged Africa to mobilize its own resources for health, with the World Bank pushing for user fees and the establishment of local health insurance schemes. "But this failed utterly," declared Mr. Sachs. With most Africans living on $300 or less per year, they simply could not afford user fees, and the continent's health systems deteriorated overall. Recalling a tour of health facilities in a number of African countries, he remarked, "These are not health centres, but places where you go to die." Even if Africa were able to generate resources for health equivalent to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, that would still be only about $15 dollars per person, he pointed out. That amount pales in comparison with the average $2,000 spent annually in some rich countries. On AIDS specifically, Mr. Sachs cited a study of recent donor assistance up to the end of 1999. It averaged about $70 mn per year. Some might call this doing a little, he observed, but "I'd call it doing nothing." For practically an entire generation, the donors watched the AIDS crisis unfold with the "most shocking neglect." The three top priorities for Africa's health systems, he said, are: "One, money. Two, money. Three, money." He estimated that the continent needs $10-20 bn a year to help adequately combat AIDS and other infectious diseases. The individual donor agencies also must not act separately, but coordinate their efforts by pooling contributions into global disease funds, and then recruiting as many African health professionals and experts as possible to direct and run the campaigns. Moreover, this assistance should be in the form of outright grants, not concessional loans. "We cannot lend Africa money to fight AIDS," he said. "We have to give Africa the money to fight AIDS." Given the grave shortcomings of Africa's health systems, Mr. Sachs advised the donors: "It is no good preaching, no good lecturing, until substantial new resources are provided." [ Back to Volume15 #1-2 Table of Contents ] [ back to Africa Recovery home ] [ Email this article ] [ New Releases ] [ Magazine - Current/Past issues ] [ Index / Search ] [ About us ] [ UN Home ] [ UN News ] [ UN Key Reports ] [ UN Africa Links ] Material from this article may be freely reproduced, with
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