Intersectoral approaches to health and non-communicable disease prevention in Africa

CITATION: Oni, T. 2020. Intersectoral approaches to health and non-communicable disease prevention in Africa, in Macnab, A., Daar, A. & Pauw, C. 2020. Health in transition : translating developmental origins of health and disease science to improve future health in Africa. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928357759/15.The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/zaThis chapter grounds efforts to achieve optimal population health in Africa, within the context of global and regional aspirations for health as part of the sustainable development agenda. The author highlights the important role that the rapidly growing urban centres in Africa are playing in the ongoing epidemiological transition, with an emerging non-communicable disease epidemic alongside a high burden of infectious disease. Far from seeing this only as a challenge, the author of this chapter explores the opportunity to harness this changing environment for health creation, propose a re-thinking of accountability for health towards a more inclusive definition of health services, and the role that adolescents can and should play both as important targets for non-communicable disease prevention and as agents of change, advocating for an all of government, all of society’s approach to health.Publisher's versio