Healthcare In Africa, Built By India
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Economic diplomacy is the use of aid, trade, and investment policy tools to achieve a geopolitical objective. India’s geoeconomic diplomacy has so far focussed mainly on the use of scholarships, grants, and concessional lines of credit. New Delhi now has the capacity to move beyond those basics by using the strengths of India’s private sector in healthcare.
Africa would welcome such an initiative, which will improve the health and thereby the development capabilities of African countries. This will also serve the geopolitical objectives of the Indian state. A successful initiative in Africa can precede a similar healthcare rollout to other regions with homologation and scale.
Why Africa?
The African continent, with a population of 1.1 billion and projected to reach 2.7 billion by 2050, lags behind most of the world in health indicators. Africans live 11.4 years less than the average world citizen, and 16.8 years less than the average European.
The gap has widened since the 1980s, when HIV/AIDS impacted the region. Plagues, like those cause by the Ebola virus, have worsened the problem. The maternal and child mortality rates in Africa are more than double the world average.
Source: Swarajya Mag (link opens in a new window)
- Categories
- Health Care
