1. Medical Care in Austere Environments

2. 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

3. 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 million clinical cases per year across the world are in Africa.

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

5. 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