African Health Care Initiative: Overview

The African Health Care Initiative is an African driven, internationally supported multi-party program seeking to make a significant contribution towards ensuring effective and sustainable rural health care clinics across Africa.

The African Health Care Initiative originated from the desire of Africans to harness the natural biostatic characteristics of copper to the benefit of rural health care and, with the support of both the Copper Development Association Africa and the International Copper Association, has been expanded into a comprehensive regional and international initiative.

In the African environment the initial focus is on ensuring the sustainability of the many thousands of rural health care clinics across Africa, and therefore includes considerations such as energy, safe drinking water, safe touch surfaces, communications and local economic development.

In the preliminary phase of the African Health Care Initiative, a team of specialist scientists from Stellenbosch University, led by internationally renowned Infection Control Specialist Professor Shaheen Mehtar, proved for the first time internationally via in vitro testing of clinical strains that copper touch surfaces are effective in killing multi-drug resistant bacteria including tuberculosis.

These very exciting observations are now being followed up in South Africa via testing in a real clinic environment. Professor Mehtar’s team will be documenting coppers bio-static abilities in both a copper fitted TB “cough room” at a Provincial Hospital, and at a copper fitted Rural Health Clinic.

The learning from these first phase clinical trials will be carried through to a second phase of some 12 clinics across some 6 Southern African countries.

In support thereof, and in preparation for phase two, CSIR has been carrying out tests to assess the contribution of copper to ensuring safe drinking water.

The current progress during Phase III: Southern Africa Region Piloting Phase

Site selection is in progress in the Limpopo Province were visits are being paid to rural health facilities, local communities and regional government departments. Further visits to the Eastern Cape Province and Botswana are being planned.

At the same time the existing network between country teams and partner organisations is being expanded and strengthened. The Projects Portal, including management tools and database facilities is being prepared for project enhancing use. Additional project management and assessment tools and guidelines are being further developed and refined by close collaboration between different partners.

A technical desktop study, analysing the different options available for off grid power supplies to rural clinics is also being carried out.