2nd Access to Healthcare in Africa Conference,

September 15 - 16,

Casa Toscana Lodge
Pretoria

 

Chairmans Address

2nd Access to Health Care in Africa Conference: Challenges to quality, access and management in effective health care, with a focus on HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria

Why is it that countries, hardest hit by difficult to control chronic disease, infectious diseases, and epidemics like the Tuberculosis/HIV/AIDS epidemics, are those countries with lots of challenges concerning medical and managerial infrastructure, low health expenditure and marginalized health care management structures.

It is especially those countries who need support and assistance not only around the logistics and finances but especially about internal capacity building, education, managerial skills, implementation of health care policies and strengthening of health care systems at district, regional, provincial and national levels.

It is a pleasure to announce the second AA4A conference which will be held in a contrasting environment as the topics we are going to deliberate about. The Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), Lynnwood, Pretoria, will be the venue for the Second AA4A conference with the inspiring tile as mentioned above.

Two third of the total HIV burden is in the African continent. Tuberculosis is becoming more than ever a global threat with MDR and XDR strains and the challenges to treatment that comes with it. Are countries with emerging epidemics (Eastern Europe, India, China) treated with the preventive and epidemic containment measures they deserve or are we, again, going to respond when the damage is irreversible? Malaria is not such a ‘sexy disease’ as HIV/AIDS but it is still one of the major killers in the developing societies. What about the other chronic diseases like diabetes, cardio-pulmonary and vascular diseases etc, all major threats in our societies: Can they not benefit from the investment in the HIV epidemic?

Global recession, donor’s responses and the challenge to make choices around accessibility, quality control, efficiency, efficacy and health economics around health intervention programs complicate these issues even more.
So do the ‘contradiction’ between health care in developing countries and high tech information technology, donor involvement in drug procurement, global harmonization of medicines regulations and registration in LDC’s, the challenges of pediatric formulations and its accessibility. Increasing complexity of donor requirements and lack of coordination create complexity and limitations in organizing the supply chain. Above topics are not addressed properly at the global conferences but they are the difference between success and failure of the intervention at ground level

The second AA4A conference with the title “2nd Access for Health Care in Africa: Challenges to quality, access and management in effective health care, with a focus on HIV and AIDS is going to put those topics on the table.

AA4A collects a core of international speakers who are field, management and policy making specialists . They are not alone going to update but debate those inspiring topics with us. Not only to be the educator but to be the ‘sparring partner’ to those who are implementers, leaders in their own society, managers and politicians who all recognize those problems and who are looking for answers they can work with.
It will be a conference of dialogue, not of monologue. It will be an ongoing debate. It will not give all the answers, it will definitely spark more questions that will lead to the third AA4A 2010 conference where chronic dialogue around access, affordability, strengthening of health care systems, efficiency and efficacy will be addressed.

It is an honor to Chair the 2009 conference.

I will be looking forward to meet you in September at the Casa Toscana Lodge, Pretoria, South Africa.

Dr Hugo A Tempelman
Conference Chairman 2009
CEO Ndlovu Care Group

Objectives

The symposium will explore these matters at a high level, contribute to the debate about them, challenge conventional wisdom about how best to deal with them and explore new directions in solving them. It will function as a forum for the dissemination of information about them. It will provide a unique opportunity to take forward and achieve progress in their resolution.

Key international speakers will introduce each theme, followed by a high level interactive panel and participant discussion. In each session, the main points from the debate will be summarized and any recommendations formulated.

Who should attend?

The target audience for the symposium consists of practitioners and managers who are responsible for the effective implementation and management of treatment for HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria, although the principles to be presented apply across all treatment programmes at regional, country, district and local levels. Attendees are expected to include representatives of public and private sector organizations, including NGOs.