Climate change has major health implications for developing countries but the links are often not well understood. This report describes the current and predicted climate impacts on human health in southern Africa. It presents a view of existing health vulnerabilities to climate change, identifies risks, assesses possible future socioeconomic conditions in relation to future health risks and identifies priorities for action. Climate change affects health in southern Africa principally through the quality and adequacy of water supply, food insecurity, infections organisms and vectors and extreme weather events, largely in that descending order of impact and significance.
The prevalence of HIV/Aids increases the vulnerabilities of individuals and communities. Low levels of progress against the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including poor infrastructure, leaves health systems in southern Africa highly vulnerable and unprepared for the challenges of climate change. Nevertheless, southern African Development Community (SADC) ministers of health and environment are recognising the threats and have adopted a leadership position committing to addressing climate change,
DFID is mapping the current health architecture and identifying drivers that will influence the future architecture from 2015. This report was prepared to inform DFID on the strengths and weaknesses of the current global health architecture, and of the relevance and responsive of the health architecture for the post 2015 agenda. This work looks at health architecture, health aid and health governance from a global perspective.The report finds that the current architecture is crowded and poorly coordinated.Concern about global health has focused attention on global health governance architecture. The current system fails to provide sufficient justification for an obligation to assist in meeting the health needs of others. Transnational and national actors too often pursue their own interests.
A stronger commitment to all people being healthy is needed. It is clear that reform is needed due to a mismatch between governance mechanisms and the vulnerability and complexity of global processes.
Infant immunisation is currently a focus of national and global policy attention in relation to Africa as a key means to address ill-health and contribute to the Millennium Development Goals. Yet vaccination coverage is stagnant or falling in many African countries. Redressing such declines, and ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of proposed expansion of immunisation programmes, requires a sound understanding of the factors shaping vaccine delivery and acceptance in contemporary African health systems. This paper explores these issues through an anthropological approach.