The World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), based in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, has created its African Health Observatory website at http://www.aho.afro.who.int/ .

Apart from providing free access to key statistics (live in an online database, and through providing the full text of such major publications as the Atlas of African Health Statistics 2014 and the African Regional Health Report 2014) an interesting and unique element of the Observatory website is the country profiles that are being created (in English, French and Portuguese) for each of the 47 countries of the African Region. This is a work in progress, as each profile seeks to act as an analytical review of the entire health system in each country. Using the same wiki software at the heart of Wikipedia, but with restricted ability for outsiders to edit the text, WHO has provided profiles some 70 or 80 pages long, when extracted (you can download “books” containing the full text).

Also available through the Observatory is the African Health Monitor ? an illustrated, peeer-reviewed journal covering all aspects of health in Africa.

Thanks to Chris Zielinski for this post about AHO

Jean Shaw, Phi