Africa – and sub-Saharan Africa in particular – lags far behind the rest of the world in terms of public health and access to healthcare. This point is illustrated by a number of statistics:

• In 2015, life expectancy in Africa was 60.0 years in Africa compared 76.8 years in Europe and 71.4 years in the world as a whole. (Source: WHO)
• In 2015 there were 296 million cases and 731,000 deaths from malaria; 90% of these occurred in Africa. (Source: WHO)
• 25.6 million people in Africa were living with HIV/AIDS in 2016, out of a world total of 36.7 million. (Source: WHO)
• Whilst the UK has 2.81 doctors per 1000 people, Sierra Leone has 0.02 doctors per 1000 people. (Source: CIA World Factbook)

Map: Life expectancy from birth

As a result of this, the work of NGOs such as Bread and Water for Africa UK to increase access to healthcare is absolutely crucial and saves lives every single day. We are working with the Kamili Organisation in Kenya to train nurses and improve mental health. In the past we've supported FHDO, which operates several clinics across Sierra Leone.