April 20, 2011 – Francis Ansong
This week, I represent Ghana in the ongoing battle against Africa’s outsized disease burden.
The author, Francis Ansong, a Research Assistant in The Whitaker Group’s Accra office, is pictured with Dr. Frank Nyonator, Ghana’s Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation - Ministry of Health.
On April 10th, I traveled from my home in Accra, Ghana to Washington D.C. to join a group of senior African health officials – leaders from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Swaziland and Uganda – and take part in Global Health Progress’ (GHP’s) 4th Annual Health Delegation.
Through GHP, African health officials meet with U.S. government representatives, members of the donor community, the private sector, NGOs and universities, to talk with global health stakeholders and work to align their priorities in the fight to overcome Africa’s health challenges.
Although the meetings are critical for partners to connect – some who have talked only at a distance before this opportunity allowed them to meet face-to-face – it is the chance to speak directly and openly about Africa’s health needs that draws delegates to Washington D.C. and New York City each year. And, for me, it was inspiring to hear these leaders speak first-hand about their experiences at the front lines and how they’ve overcome hurdles to achieve success.
Leading health officials from eight sub-Saharan African countries have just completed a weeklong visit to Washington (June 21 to June 25) hosted by Global Health Progress (GHP), where they highlighted successful public-private partnerships in addressing critical health challenges in Africa and stressed the need for continued US public support to strengthen African health care systems. 
The United Nations Conference on Trade Development (UNCTAD) released its World Investment Report 2009 on September 17, subtitled “Transnational Corporations, Agricultural Production and Development.” The Report finds substantial decreases in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) around the globe due to the recession, but shows impressive pre-recession FDI growth in Africa in 2008 that positions the continent to be a strong investment destination once global economies begin to recover. 
In this issue: successful PEPFAR partnerships, strengthening Tanzania’s health sector, a new initiative in Uganda, the final push against guinea worm, and more. 
