In Africa, Let There Be Health!

There is hardly a cause as worthy as healthcare in Africa, and a stalwart foundation is stepping up to do its part in this ongoing battle. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced a grant of $44 million to help strengthen health systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The project, lasting five to seven years, will assist research partnerships to, as the press release describes it, "design and implement large-scale primary health care programs." Tall order!

The partnerships are unique in that research teams from various universities, hospitals and NGOs collaborate directly with African government agencies. Together they will improve healthcare systems in areas with populations between 300,000 and 1.6 million.

The grant will cover four partnerships:

In Mozambique: Health Alliance International and the Mozambican Ministry of Health. In Rwanda: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, a Boston-based NGO called Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health.In Tanzania and Ghana: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Swiss Tropical Institute, the University of Ghana, the Ifakara Health Institute of Tanzania and teams of government health workers.In Zambia: Center for Infectious Disease Research, affiliated with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Government of Zambia.

This is very good news for many people in these countries. A gift of this size, directed toward partnerships involving so many capable and important stakeholders, has a real chance of making some difference.

 

Photo courtesy of doc on stock.xchang.