摘要：Notwithstanding worldwide aggregate improvements in the health of individuals and communities, (1, 2) overall progress has been marred by a multiplicity of factors. These include: the changing burden and complexity of disease profiles; the social, political, economic and environmental drivers of ill-health, unacceptable health inequalities between and within countries, and inadequate or poorly performing health systems (1, 3). Common shortcomings of contemporary health systems include fragmented, inappropriate, misdirected or poor quality care which mitigate against a comprehensive and balanced response to population health needs (1). All these challenges are more acute in sub-Saharan Africa, which faces additional problems of financial and human resource constraints and low investment in health research (3, 4).(Published: 24 January 2013)Citation: Glob Health Action 2013, 6: 20241 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v6i0.20241
