African health ministers adopt new health strategy

African health ministers adopted a health strategy on Friday to deal with the host of diseases on the continent, a dearth of health workers and failing health systems.

During a three-day conference held in Johannesburg, the ministers discussed ways to eradicate and manage diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and
HIV/AIDS.

Key to discussions on the strategy was that the burden of disease in Africa was a barrier to socio-economic development on the continent which accounts for a quarter of the world's ill health.
The strategy also aims to provide basic health care to all Africans by 2015.

"The health strategy adopted today therefore seeks to provide the over-arching framework for addressing health challenges in Africa," said a conference press statement.

Some of the issues addressed in the strategy are issues of governance, financing, community participation, increasing numbers of health workers and including the use of African traditional medicine while taking into account its strengths and limitations.

"I am sure that with our partners, both local communities as well as our development partners we shall do all we can to ensure the full implementation of the Strategy", said South Africa's acting health minister and conference chairman Jeff Radebe.

The African Union social affairs commissioner Bience Gawanas said the strategy would not replace existing strategies.

"It is a vision document that sets out the context within which Africa is saying we want to meet our health challenges," she said.

Zimbabwe's health minister David Parirenyatwa proposed that the next conference in 2009 be held in his country, saying he felt it was "important that people come to our country."