(1888PressRelease)
September 08, 2007 - The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) will host a three-day conference, ‘The South-South consultation’ bringing together African, Asian and other international health experts, civil society organizations, policy makers and researchers to share ideas on how best to engage communities in efforts to improve their health. The conference will look at ways in which better-informed communities can be more involved in the issues affecting their own health. You are invited to attend the closing session on Wednesday September 12, 2007 at 11.00 am at the AMREF International Training Centre, Langata Road where discussions and outcomes of the conference will be presented to the press.
Through 50 years of working closely with vulnerable communities in Africa, AMREF has learnt that the solutions to their health challenges can be found here in the continent. “It is time African countries started looking to each other and to other developing countries for the solutions to their problems. Kenya for instance can learn much more from the model of community health in Uganda than we can from western health interventions because we face similar health challenges,” says Daraus Bukenya, AMREF’s head of Community Partnership.
The conference will tackle several key questions:
1. How can civil society organisations work together with communities to improve their links with health systems?
2. Local communities possess a great deal of knowledge and experience that can feed into designing health services that suit them. How can community based systems and knowledge be better linked to formal health systems?
3. What are the best models for communities to raise funds and sustain them to support their health systems?
4. What role can private sector and the informal sector play in the health of communities?
Dr Michael Smalley, AMREF’s Director General said, “Too many people in Africa are dying due to problems that are preventable and treatable. Health care services are not reaching the people who they are meant to serve due to several factors that contribute to the worrying picture of health in Africa. These include poverty, cultural, gender and geographical barriers, and the weaknesses and reach of the current health structure, Breaking this cycle requires a better understanding about the root causes of these health challenges through sharing experiences, research and strategies and by developing partnerships to scale up health interventions in Africa. We can overcome these challenges by strengthening the system that serves them and creating a partnership between the providers and users of these services,” he added.
###
