Too many chefs in Africa.
Available interventions could prevent six out of ten million deaths in children younger than five years of age every year. The health sector and donor agencies bear responsibility for not using these interventions. The UN's Millennium Development Goals are a step in the right direction towards a focused approach. The poor and illiterates are most seriously affected by a low quality of care. The hospital sector suffered unreasonably in the 1980's and now has to fight a vicious circle of mistrust, low quality, collapsed administrative and professional institutions and lack of financing. New and old interventions should be evaluated constantly to maximise efficiency.
Sodemann
Morten
M
Bandim Health project, Statens Serum Institut, København S, Denmark. mortenso@dadlnet.dk