"The implementation of this health reform is not a feat but a duty..."

July 12, 2019 12:36 PM

How One Community Brought Child Mortality Down From 154 to 7 Per 1,000 Live Births (NPR) A seven-year trial in Mali provided house calls and health care at no charge for pregnant women and young children. The results, recently published by British Medical Journal Global Health, inspired the president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to make announce unprecedented health reforms (7D News). Free contraceptives will also be provided across the country as tens of thousands of community health workers are introduced in a bid to provide more localised healthcare to Mali’s population of 18 million people (The Guardian).

The title post, in context from 7D News:

"The implementation of this health reform is not a feat but a duty for the Government. Everywhere in Mali, where our fellow citizens are suffering, they must now have access to the minimum care required. How can we succeed in making men ready to build their country by the force of labour if they are overwhelmed by disease? " asked President Kéita.

Though not universal health care, this brings Mali closer to joining other nations in Africa and around the world that provide low cost to free health care to all (Wikipedia list of countries with universal health care).

posted by filthy light thief (2 comments total)

“We are trying to make Mali be great again, to improve our healthcare system and save lives, and we are hoping this will help us reach universal healthcare with a very powerful, improved system.”

Making Mali great again. Good for them.
posted by clawsoon at 1:27 PM on July 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

It sounds like they are getting excellent results.

I do wish the main articles had added just a bit more context, though -- this may be a new approach in Mali, but it's been known to be an effective approach for a long time now. From memory, Jamaica was the first country to use the community health worker approach to focus on mother and child health many decades ago; there are a lot of similarities also with the Partners in Health approach developed initially in Haiti and applied in many other places.

In other words, this is tried, tested, and effective, and it is great to see Mali starting to take this approach.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:33 PM on July 12, 2019 [3 favorites]