The recent reviews of the progress made towards achieving the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicate that the progress made by many African countries has been slow when compared to the progress on the MDG on education (ECA, 2007, ECA, 2008, African Union Commission, 2008, Mwabu, 2008). The vast majority of African countries experienced negligible improvements in under-five mortality of 1.8% between 1990 and 2005, which translated to an annual improvement of 0.1% placing most countries significantly off track to achieving this goal (ECA, 2008). Available data also suggest very little improvements in reducing infant and maternal mortality in many African countries. Recent data published by WHO and UNAIDS shows that in most sub-Saharan Africa countries, national HIV prevalence has either stabilized or is showing signs of decline. However in spite of this positive development, AIDS remains the leading cause of death. The trend in tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and morbidity has been on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa and malaria is the leading cause of child mortality and of anaemia in pregnant women in much of Africa.
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