The Lancet: An African-driven health agenda
Editorial Board

“The first WHO Africa health forum closed on June 28 in Kigali, Rwanda, with commitments from governments to ensure universal health coverage. … But health is much more than just health care, and universal health coverage alone cannot confront the considerable challenges of the continent. … Financing universal health coverage is far from clear; with declining donor assistance, countries will be challenged to fund and sustain health care systems. Intensifying these political and economic challenges are demographic shifts. … The paradoxes of Africa — abundant with natural resources yet much impoverishment, financial losses to corruption that exceed gains through foreign aid, the double burdens of persistent infectious disease alongside growing chronic conditions — present a myriad of health challenges. Yet to speak of one Africa is to discount the rich cultural, linguistic, economic, and political diversity of the region. The Lancet’s African-led Commission on the future of health in sub-Saharan Africa, launching in Nairobi in September, will explore these complex dimensions” (7/8).