Health care in Africa ‐ which way?

Abstract

This article gives a personal view of the health situation in a typical country in the South. Uganda is a country which is well endowed with natural resources, as are many countries in the South, but is plagued by poverty, conflict, endemic infectious diseases and, more recently, disease due to HIV. The article argues for an integrated solution to appropriate health care, proposing that good health results from sustainable development. It focuses on constraints to development such as conflict, militarization, environmental degradation, lack of community action, and inappropriate policies by both developing world governments and members of the international arena. All of these play a role in the achievement of sustainable equity world‐wide.

Key Words:

• Appropriate development
• Environmental degradation
• Infectious disease
• Militarization
• Population
• Uganda