A new ECA report proposes ways to mainstream health equity in the development agenda

Abstract

Mainstreaming health equity into the development agenda in Africa is timely as the next ECOSOC high-level meeting scheduled in July 2009 in Geneva will focus on health equity as part of global efforts towards improving health care. Several international commitments including the Alma-Ata Declaration, the Africa Health Strategy and the MDGs pledge to make health equity a key focus of development plans and poverty reduction strategy. In this regard, the report released by ECA provides a strong evidence base for policy formulation and for resource allocation. The analysis contained in this study uses data from the demographic and health surveys of the ten countries covered by the report.