Healthcare remains a challenge in Africa. Many examples can be given, but the quote above is indicative of the main solution. In today’s world, 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty. One third of them resides in sub-Saharan Africa. Child mortality is a reliable indicator. Despite falling in Africa by 41 per cent since 1990, every day 10,000 children continue to die needlessly: a child under 5 in Africa is 16 times more likely to die than a child in a developed country.

Progress with improving the health system in sub-Saharan Africa is slow. The number of private clinics increases for the benefit of those with purchasing power. There is a chronic shortage of qualified doctors, drugs are scarce, and organizational and institutional problems throughout the health sector are overwhelming. Many experts have given advice. However, permanently lifting the health system to a higher level has proved difficult. Aside from problems with the quality of health care, access to health care is also uneven. Impoverished communities living in rural and urban areas suffer most from the absence of accessible and affordable health care.