Lancet Global Health
May 2016 Volume 4 Number 5 e287-e343
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/issue/current

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Editorial
Research capacity in Africa—will the sun rise again?
Justine Davies, Zoë Mullan
Published Online: 31 March 2016
Open Access
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30046-8
Summary
Africa has a problem. It has the greatest burden of disease and lowest density of health-care professionals in the world. This we know. We also know that although infectious diseases and maternal, child, and neonatal health are improving, the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been steadily increasing in the past few decades. We know that the health-care successes in Africa have largely been driven by donor aid, providing vertical solutions to specific problems; however, NCDs require complex care and strong health systems.

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Comment
How the MDGs gave up on measuring access to medicines
Dzintars Gotham, Kristine H Onarheim, Melissa J Barber
Open Access
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(16)00066-8
Summary
In March, 2016, the United Nations Statistics Commission agreed upon the metrics used to measure progress towards, or away from, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).1 These so-called indicators define the real-world, measurable counterparts to the targets within the visionary goals of the sustainable development agenda. In the context of health in the SDGs, we wish to highlight the little-known story of the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDG) target on access to medicines. Of the 21 targets in the eight MDGs that permeated the development debate over the past 15 years, it was the only target that was dropped from the MDG report.