Medical Care in Austere Environments

The Operational Environment Northern Africa 4,885 Miles Western Europe Western Africa Eastern Africa Argentina United States 4,365 Miles Middle/Central Africa Southern Africa Tyranny of Distance Diversity of Population 100’s of ethnic groups 2,000 languages/dialects Wide variety of religious traditions Health Status China Five Regions

Health Care Capabilities The Operational Environment Health Care Capabilities Malaria Rates HIV/ AIDS Rates WHO: “In Africa region, 72% of all deaths are from communicable diseases…compared to 27% in all other WHO Regions combined.” HIV/AIDS: Africa region has 11% of worlds population, but an estimated 60% of HIV/AIDS – leading cause of death for adults. TB: 2.4 million new cases (24% of all cases worldwide) & half a million deaths each year. MALARIA: endemic in 42/46 Sub-Saharan countries - >90% of the 300-500 million clinical cases per year across the world are in Africa.

AFRICOM Theater Posture High disease load Immature local health care infrastructure Transport limitations Highly dispersed operations Limited BOS-I Time/Space/Distance

Topics for the Discussion Challenges Requirements/successes/possibilities Decreasing Force Structure Decreasing Evacuation Assets Increased Dispersion Perception of War’s End Mission Change/Creep Maintaining Readiness Personnel Turnover WMD/Natural Bio Telehealth Prolonged Field Care Doctrinal Changes International Agreements Mobile DCS Patient Movement Logistics Joint Equip/Train