Private Equity Fund to Invest in Health Care
The International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group), the African Development Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and a German development finance group DEG, have combined forces to create a new private equity firm that will specifically invest in the health care sector of Africa. The Health in Africa Fund will “invest in small- and medium- sized companies in sub-Saharan Africa … with the goal of helping low-income Africans gain access to affordable, high-quality health services.” [Full Article]

UN Working to Improve Communications for Health Workers
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is supporting the expansion of the telecommunications available for health workers in West Africa. The World Health Organization’s program eHealth will promote communications between physicians for diagnostic purposes, while also creating ethical and legal policies surrounding the collection and storage of electronic health information. The Director General of Ghanaian health services, Dr. Elias Sory says, “If you get a doctor who is away in the village and has come across a case he or she thinks is beyond him or her, why cannot that doctor be able link up easily with a senior doctor in Korle Bu to get advice on it? So we are not there. But eHealth will get us there.” [Full Article]

HIV/AIDS Progress
During a briefing at the World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Cape Town, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka said that several African countries have successfully scaled up their HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, reports The Lusaka Times. Mataka listed Zambia and Botswana as some of the countries in Africa that have cited significant gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. [Full Article]