Download U.S. Public Health Assistance to Africa

U.S. Public Health
Assistance to Africa
by Michael Hall
Resolved: The United
States federal government
should substantially
increase its
public health assistance
to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)
Where Might “Public Health
Assistance” Come From?
 The Department of State recognizes five
types of US Foreign Aid.
● Economic Aid to Support
US
Political
and Security
● Military
Assistance
Objectives
● Humanitarian Assistance
● Multilateral Assistance
● Bilateral Development Assistance
Where Might Development
Assistance Come From?
 When looking at Economic and
Development Assistance together, there
are 7 accounts Congress funds. Among
these accounts are two that are explicitly
health related:
 Child Survival and Health (CSH)
 Global AIDS Initiative (GAI)
Where Might Development
Assistance Come From?
 Other health programs are funded
through the Development Assistance .
The two largest are:
 Family planning and reproductive
health; and
 Infectious disease prevention other
than HIV/AIDS
Where Might Development
Assistance Come From?
 All told, the Department of State
calculates that more than $2.5 billion was
spent in global health programs in 2004.
What Does “Public Health
Assistance Mean?”
 “Public health assistance” in not a term
found in the US Foreign Assistance
Budget.
 “Public health assistance” is a term found
in other federal regulations.
 The Code of Federal Regulations says
public health assistance is the provision
of health services designed to protect the
health of the general public.
Like What Kind of
Services?
Public health services “including, but not
limited to, immunizations for immunizable
diseases, testing and treatment for
tuberculosis and sexually-transmitted
diseases, and family planning services.”
Public Health In SSA – The
Big Picture
 The CIA statistics on life expectancy
reveal the following:
 Of the 31 lowest ranking nations in life
expectancy, 28 were in SSA
 The average person born in SSA can
expect to live 46 years, which is 32 years
less than most Western Countries
 Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and
Swaziland are all below 40 years.
Public Health In SSA – The
Challenges
 Challenge #1: HIV/AIDS
 Of the more than 40 million people in the
world living with HIV/AIDS, it is estimated
that 2/3 of them are in SSA – that’s more
than 26 million people!
 HIV/AIDS is the #1 killer of people in
Africa – more than 7% of the population
is HIV positive and as many as 2 million
per year die
Public Health In SSA – The
Challenges
 Challenge #2a: Other Infectious
Diseases – Malaria
 More than 80% of global cases and 95%
of deaths are in SSA
 There are between 300 million and 500
million cases in SSA every year
 Between 750 thousand and 1 million
children in SSA die each year
Public Health In SSA – The
Challenges
 Challenge #2b: Other Infectious
Diseases – Tuberculosis
 In 2005, WHO estimates that 2.5 million
were infected with TB in SSA. More than
500 thousand died.
 29% of all global TB cases occurred in
SSA. The only region with more cases
was South-East Asia, a region with more
than double the population.
Public Health In SSA – The
Challenges
 Challenge #3: Dehydration from Disease
 Diarrhea can be caused by a number of
diseases. In Africa, the most common
are Cholera and Rotavirus.
 Diarrhea is the #1 cause of infant
mortality in Africa. More than 600
thousand die of Rotavirus alone.