Africa: The Cutting Edge for Health Care

Africa can and should be the innovator of chronic disease management. A recent report from the London School of Economics notes that there are more deaths due to chronic disease in Sub‐Saharan Africa than almost anywhere else in the world. Many infectious diseases turn to chronic diseases (HPV to cervical cancer, hepatitis to liver cancer) and many infectious diseases are not acute but chronic, HIV/AIDS, malaria, perhaps even Ebola. Additionally, areas like West Africa have an unduly high burden of acute infectious disease. Africa is in a unique position to research management of both chronic disease care and the double‐burden. The training of community health workers to diagnose and treat malaria or repair obstetric fistula is an example of Africa's cutting edge sustainability and innovation in health and access to care. Additionally, family‐based approaches towards disease management that build on community health models, such as families helping to care for Ebola patients, is another example of innovation in care. As Africa transforms due to increasing exposure to global markets, it has the potential to place health and health care at the forefront of all interactions and become a global leader in disease research and care management. Global economies should be investing in health in Africa, not with militarized Ebola Treatment Units, but with research funding for universities like Cheikh Anta Diop here in Dakar, Senegal. Africa can transform, innovate, and sustain not only the health of its own citizens but create more sustainable, compassionate models for citizens around the globe.