New Research Papers on Saving Lives in Sub-Saharan Africa

July 8, 2010 -- Two articles published in the journal PLoS Medicine  last month assess current trends in maternal, newborn, and child health in sub-Sarahan Africa, while presenting a tool for prioritizing investments in proven health-care interventions. The papers are based on the report “Science In Action: Saving the Lives of Africa’s Mothers, Newborns, and Children,” which was developed under the African Science Academy Development Initiative and presented at last year’s annual conference in Accra, Ghana.

The papers analyze why 4.7 million mothers, newborns, and children are dying each year in sub-Saharan Africa and use a computer model to estimate how many of these lives could be saved if well-known interventions were scaled up to reach more of the population. Progress is being made in some countries toward achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals for maternal and child health by 2015, the papers note, but they also emphasize that most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are lagging and need strategic investments in evidence-based interventions if more progress is to be made.

Millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from mental, neurological, and substance use disorders, and most do not have the resources to get treatment. The Uganda National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine co-hosted a workshop to discuss the state of care for these conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. The discussions are summarized in Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reducing the Treatment Gap, Increasing Quality of Care.

• Sub-Saharan Africa's Mothers, Newborns, and Children: Where and Why Do They Die?
• Sub-Saharan Africa's Mothers, Newborns, and Children: How Many Lives Could Be Saved with Targeted Health Interventions?
• African Science Academy Development Initiative
• Science in Action report
• Joint G8 science academies’ statement on Health of Women and Children