Keeping young hearts beating — that’s the mission of the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa’s Children’s Programme, a community-based empowerment project that teaches healthy habits from a young age. With the help of sponsorship from Lucky Star, the foundation has been able to extend its reach beyond the metropolitan precincts and into the rural areas.

One in every 100 children suffers from congenital heart defects – and as many as 95% of these can be treated through surgery, enabling them to go on to live normal lives. But without treatment, these children die within weeks. Less than 30% of indigent South African children and 1% of children in the rest of the continent can afford the treatment they need.

Lack of qualified human resources in the African healthcare arena continues to hinder poverty reduction and development, opening up further potential for computer-based learning models on the continent. A case in point is Kenya, where almost 90% of the country’s nurses are trained at the lowest “enrolled” status.

The third annual Pan African Health (PAH) Congress, which takes place from September 18 to 19 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, is billed as the premier platform for business-to-business networking in Africa’s healthcare industry. The key components of this year’s congress are a conference, a business-to business (B2B) networking forum and the second Absa Healthcare Initiative Awards.

South Africa’s presidency presented a challenge to Stellenbosch University towards the end of 2000 — to develop a programme that addresses the HIV/Aids pandemic. So was born the postgraduate diploma in the management of HIV/Aids, which has now been accepted as a model for the African continent.

Celebrating 12 years of mental health and advocacy this year, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) is Africa’s largest and most recognised mental health initiative. Noteworthy among the accolades it has achieved was a substantial grant from the World Bank Development Marketplace in 2003.

Absa’s social investments stand in the context of its wider role in all the societies in which it operates. The Absa Healthcare Initiative Awards, to be held for the second time this year, are a major component of the 2007 Pan-African Health Congress.

In 1999 global pharmaceutical and healthcare company Bristol-Myers Squibb and the BMS Foundation made what to this day is the largest corporate commitment to fight HIV/Aids in Africa. This came through the launch of Secure the Future: Care and Support for Women and Children with HIV/Aids. The programme is a $150-million investment, with projects in 12 African countries.

Repairing cleft lips and palates of children from disadvantaged communities is one of the specialised services offered by Johannesburg’s Netcare Park Lane Hospital, which has earned international recognition for the facilities it offers to mothers and infants.

Responding effectively to the HIV/Aids and tuberculosis epidemics is a challenge for companies such as gold producer AngloGold Ashanti for business and moral reasons. The burden of both diseases in the local mining industry is high. Similarly, the high incidence of malaria in the company’s Africa operations calls for effective interventions.