Primary Care Conference Set for January 2010

(Mali Health Organizing Project)  While our work starts with grassroots change in the community of Sikoroni, MHOP aims to take our efforts to scale to address the primary health needs of millions. In conjunction with our national advocacy efforts, we are organizing a conference for West African francophone countries to discuss the importance of family medicine in creating effective health systems.

The conference, Training and Payment of Family Medicine, is set for January 2010 and will include representatives from medical training institutions in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Togo, and Mali. Currently West African medical schools focus largely on training doctors and nurses in specialties such as cardiology, forgetting that the greatest burden of disease can be prevented and treated through basic primary care. By bringing together representatives from around the region, we hope to refocus efforts to treat maladies such as respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles, and malnutrition, which combined cause 90% of child deaths.

This conference promises to be the first of many to come, ensuring that MHOPs efforts to create a system of universal primary care in Mali are brought to scale throughout West Africa.

Questions or ideas? Email info@malihealth.org.