The Challenge of Non-Communicable Diseases and Road Traffic ...

The Challenge of Non-communicable Diseases and Road Traffic Injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview draws on a
comprehensive review of the literature and on input from policy makers, researchers and practitioners to address four
questions: (1) How is the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and road traffic injuries (RTIs) changing
the epidemiology of Sub-Saharan Africa? (2) What determines and drives this burden, and what are the commonalities
with communicable diseases? (3) What is the rationale for public intervention? And (4) How could resource-constrained
governments approach NCD prevention and treatment and road safety in a comprehensive, effective and efficient way?
The data show that action against NCDs and RTIs in Sub-Saharan Africa is needed, together with continued efforts to
address communicable diseases and maternal and child health and reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The report suggests that NCDs/RTIs should not be tackled separately as a vertical program, nor should they displace
communicable diseases as priorities. Instead, given resource constraints, and some shared determinants, characteristics,
and interventions, there is scope for an integrated approach focusing on functions (prevention, treatment and care)
rather than on disease categories.
A healthier and more productive population is a critical factor for ensuring sustainable economic growth and social
development over the medium and longer terms in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Countries will take different paths towards universal health
coverage. There is no single formula. However, today, an
emerging field of global health delivery science is generating
evidence and tools that offer promising options for countries….
For decades, energy has been spent in disputes opposing
disease-specific ‘vertical’ service delivery models to integrated
‘horizontal’ models. Delivery science is consolidating evidence
on how some countries have solved this dilemma by creating
a ‘diagonal’ approach: deliberately crafting priority diseasespecific
programs to drive improvement in the wider health
system…. Whether a country’s immediate priority is diabetes;
malaria control; maternal health and child survival; or driving
the ‘endgame’ on HIV/AIDS, a universal coverage framework
can harness disease-specific programs diagonally to strengthen
the system.”
Dr. Jim Kim, President of the World Bank,
World Health Assembly
Geneva, 21 May 2013
“As we start the journey of the next fifty years, we are clear
about the task before us: to educate our populace, and
ensure healthy bodies and minds; to modernize and expand
Africa’s infrastructure and connect our peoples and countries;
to grow our agriculture and agro-businesses so that we can
feed ourselves and the world; to use our natural resources
to industrialize and grow our shared prosperity; to invest in
science, technology, research and innovation as enablers of
rapid progress; and finally to empower women and youth as
the drivers of Africa’s renaissance”.
Dr. Nkosazana Diamini Zuma
Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) now the
African Union (AU)
Addis Ababa, 25 May 2013