Financial Times: Threat of infectious disease outbreaks haunts Africa
Jakaya Kikwete, former president of Tanzania

“…A major shift in the demographic landscape sets up a likely resurgence in outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases across Africa. This would place all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in jeopardy. … Squalid slums and poor access to basic health services, especially immunization, represent a lethal combination, creating conditions that are ripe for outbreaks. … The most efficient solution is to achieve and maintain high levels of vaccination, which is both effective and affordable. … Health authorities must recognize that the hardest-to-reach communities do not just live in remote villages, but often lie below the radar in cities, right under our noses. Governments urgently need to check their blind-spots and develop new ways to identify and reach these people — or face being left behind with immeasurable, bleak consequences” (8/23).