Hortenzia Beciu and David Haddad
Africa Region Human Development, 2009
"In 2000, 147 countries signed the Millennium Development Declaration to work toward eliminating poverty and developing and promoting policies that will bring sustainable development to their countries. The Millennium Development agenda was accepted as a common framework to measure development progress. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relate to health outcomes: Goal 4: reduce under-five child mortality by two-thirds; Goal 5: reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters; and Goal 6: reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases. Overall progress towards reaching MDG 4, 5, and 6 has been uneven, with sub-Saharan Africa falling significantly behind the rest of the world. A number of key reasons for such sub-par outcomes in the health sector are a result of: 1.inadequate environmental standards; 2. lack of access to basic preventive interventions; 3. ineffective management and inefficient supply chain logistics for pharmaceuticals 4.an inadequate number health workers and; 5. a lack of appropriate skills needed from health workers."
