Health in Africa costs dearly: in quality of life, in chances of survival, and in resources

Did you know, for example, that Africa would have been an estimated US $100 billion better off in 1999 if malaria had been eliminated years ago? And - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - that extra US $100 billion is nearly five times greater than all development aid provided to Africa in 1999?

With even the most basic care a privilege for most Africans, World Health Day has special significance for the continent. In some African countries, up to one in four of the adult population is now living with the deadly HIV/AIDS virus - and yet the cost of drugs available elsewhere in the world remains too expensive for governments to provide. Many infectious diseases are easily preventable or curable, but, in Africa, access to vaccines and drugs is dangerously limited.

As WHO highlights mental well-being for World Health Day on 7 April, an IRIN Webspecial looks at health issues affecting Africans across the continent. The Chris Hani Baragwanath government hospital, on the outskirts of Soweto, is, for example, the biggest health facility in Africa with up to 900,000 patients passing through its doors each year: yet, it is some 1,000 nurses short because of the pull of the private sector. Many of the sick and suffering have to be sent home, because the overworked and underpaid government nurses are tired of struggling to care in the dilapidated buildings.

In Abidjan, researchers looking for a more effective, longer-lasting vaccine for meningitis say governments need to explore environmental approaches, as dry winds and arid climates help spread the fatal brain disease. "We do know that planting trees and creating forests would increase chances of rain," Dr Samuel Bugri of WHO, Abidjan, told IRIN.

IRIN also looks at how insecurity in Somalia has affected the spread of cholera, and how people are struggling with depression and HIV/AIDS in Uganda. A special feature looks at how parents seek to support their mentally ill children in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and battle to reduce the stigma associated with the illness.

UN Secretary-General speaks on global mental health

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the world to address the global crisis in mental health. In his message for World Health Day, he highlighted the plight of those who "suffer in silence" from treatable mental illnesses.

Annan said a global strategy was needed to address the mental health crisis and called on governments to allocate resources and establish public policy to meet mental health needs. More than 40 percent of countries have no articulated mental health policy and more than 30 percent have no mental health programmes, he said.

"Through honesty and understanding, we can break down the walls of social stigma that surround mental illness," Annan said.

He looked forward to the annual gathering of the World Health Assembly in May when the issue of mental health will be taken up by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) 191 Member States, but Annan said "there is still more that can be done."

Working with WHO, the NGO Committee on Mental Health in New York has launched a project aimed at promoting acceptance of those who are affected by mental illness. The programme would address a range of mental health issues, including policies related to HIV/AIDS, violence against women and human rights, the committee said.