The Eighteenth African Health Sciences Congress: dissemination of research results for utilisation

The African Health Sciences Congress for 1997 will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 14 to 18 April. This congress has been an annual event where scientists from across the world meet to present research results and to discuss meaningful approaches to solving some of the world's pressing health problems. The congress which is under the aegis of the African Forum for Health Sciences (AFHES), focusses special attention on ways of finding solutions for problems that afflict the African. The AFHES aims to accentuate, through these meetings, practical approaches that can be used by African governments to tackle health-related matters in order to improve the socio-economic status of the people on the African continent. The common health-related matters that one would be expected to be covered at such a congress are the six major tropical diseases identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), namely malaria, filariasis, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis and leprosy. But now, there are other health-related problems on the continent that must be dealt with in order to ensure quality of life. Among them are the new and re-emerging diseases like the haemorrhagic fevers (Ebola and Marbug) and yellowfever, the sexually-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, acute respiratory infections and reproductive health. Then there are the less often mentioned health-related problems currently afflicting the African continent that are not given so much attention as the others. These include sanitation, famine and drought, and malnutrition which arise from political upheavals leading to refugees. The consequences of these socio-economic difficulties further exacerbate the prevalence of the existing tropical and other diseases. Scientists working in Africa should play leading roles in tackling the many health problems that afflict the peoples of Africa. They are well placed to collect direct information on these health issues and to provide practical and meaningful strategies for their solution. The WHO Africa Region has taken a meaningful step towards finding mechanisms of eliminating female mutilation in Africa, and this is highlighted in the Newsdesk pages of this issue of the Journal. This, it is hoped, will be achieved through the use of the African traditional foundation and wisdom. Similarly, the African traditional culture of health should provide the basis for utilising the wisdom of the traditional healers and traditional midwives for dealing with primary health care matters on the African continent. The Journal congratulates all the scientists working in Africa, be they Africans or non-Africans, and those outside Africa, who work tirelessly to solve problems that will pave the way for an acceptable quality of life for the world's peoples. It is earnestly hoped that the scientists in Cape Town during the 18th African Health Sciences Congress will deliberate, discuss and dedicate themselves to solving Africa's pressing health problems. The Journal also acknowledges with gratitude, the organisers of this congress, namely the South African Medical Research Council, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Epidemiological Society of Southern Africa (ESSA), which, under the auspices of the African Forum for Health Sciences, have made it possible to hold the Congress in cape Town this year.