Health Affairs Blog: Why Africa Matters To The United States And How President Donald Trump’s New Africa Strategy Falls Short
Charles B. Holmes, co-director at the Center for Global Health and Quality and visiting associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University, discusses the importance of U.S. engagement in Africa, noting both opportunities and challenges for engaging with the continent. Holmes outlines the successes of U.S.-led programs in improving health and development outcomes with African leadership, including PEPFAR, the President’s Malaria Initiative, Global Health Security Agenda, African Growth and Opportunity Act, Millennium Challenge Corporation Power Africa, and Feed the Future. He concludes, “[Th]e U.S. cannot achieve its aims in Africa unless it recognizes the positive promise of the continent and engages in a true spirit of partnership. Congress and the administration should work together to implement the most positive elements of this strategy, while bolstering support for human rights, democracy, and ensuring we don’t squander the extraordinary health and development gains Africans and Americans together have worked so hard to achieve” (3/8).