The following is a summary of blog posts examining the first-ever Ministerial Forum on China-Africa Health Development, held in China earlier this month, and the resulting Beijing Declaration.

• Victoria Fan, Center for Global Development’s (CGD) “Global Health Policy” blog: “At this meeting China’s president Xi Jinping heralded a ‘new era’ of China-Africa cooperation on health, while commemorating its 50-year history beginning in 1963 when China first sent its first medical team to Algeria,” Fan, a research fellow at the center, writes. “This inaugural forum on health and Beijing Declaration may well mark a turning point in the history of Chinese development and health cooperation to Africa,” she states. However, “[t]here are some areas where both the Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Action Plan could improve,” she continues, and provides recommendations (8/23).
• Anupama Tantri and Anna Johnston, Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect” blog: “A key outcome of the forum included a call for the development and implementation of joint pilot projects between China and Africa on schistosomiasis and other high burden diseases in Africa,” Tantri and Johnston of the Global Network write. Noting “[a]dditional outcomes of the meeting are outlined in the Beijing Declaration … which recognizes health as a central component of cooperation between China and African countries,” they continue, “The Ministerial Forum on China-Africa Health Development is a significant step towards [neglected tropical disease (NTD)] control and elimination and presents a model for further South-South collaboration on NTDs” (8/23).