The symposium will contribute significantly to theoretical debates by the application of theoretical frameworks that effectively consider the double burden of disease and the position of Africa with reference to this burden. We see the main contributions of this symposium and its outcomes as a review of the dual burden of disease in Africa through the application several theoretical frameworks with implications for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

We expect the symposium to bring together a group of scientists with varied specialties within the health care arena. There will be a good representation of both geographic related health topics as well as infectious and noninfectious disease topics. Specific topics we anticipate to be covered will include papers on place and health, vector borne disease, waterborne diseases, infectious diseases, (e.g. HIV/AIDS, Ebola), health disparities, vulnerability and health geography, chronic diseases, obesity, emerging and re-emerging diseases, maternal and child health, food (in)security, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, primary health care, globalization and health, medical ethics, migration and health, health care demand and access, mobile health and health systems. These topics and papers will be organized in the following main sections: Addressing geographic aspects and spatial analyses of health and disease) Addressing the duo burden of disease (communicable and non-communicable diseases); Addressing intractable barriers to accessing health care including the cultural context and rural/urban disparities) Addressing women’s issues and health including topics on maternal and child health); Understanding the successes and failures in the implementation of health related Millennium Development Goals over the past decade through case studies); Understanding and charting the future for health in Africa in light of the impending “Post-2015 Development Agenda”); Roundtable discussion and recommendations.

The outcomes of this symposium will be disseminated widely throughout the world and will contribute significantly to the on-going debates about the health in Africa and the Post-2015 global agenda. First we will post all the papers presented at the three day symposium on a website specifically designed for this symposium. Second, all three organizers of this conference recognize the value of high quality publications in journals of international standing. The papers will be edited and compiled for publication in special issues of three major global health journals. The papers will be grouped by theme with 8 papers per theme for publication in each special issue. We have already entered discussions with the following global health journals of international reputation: Journal of Global Health (Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK); Global Public Health (Columbia University New York), and The Bulletin of the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland). Indeed, the positive responses from the journals we have contacted are a testament to the timely importance for the debates and interrogation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. We see the main contributions of this symposium and its outcomes as (a) review of the dual burden of infectious diseases and chronic diseases in Africa using several theoretical frameworks such as the triangle of human ecology of disease and the interrelated demographic, epidemiologic and nutrition transitions as well as implications for the “Post-2015 Development Agenda”, (b) promising new initiatives for mitigating the dual burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, (c) challenges and opportunities for students and faculty in framing research priorities for the future, (d) the compilation and publication of the scientific papers in special issues of major global health journals will ensure that the symposium outcomes are widely circulated throughout the world. Furthermore, this conference will be interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary in nature bringing together scientists from allied health disciplines in the social sciences, natural sciences and medicine. We will seek to establish active collaboration between disciplines and institutions in the U.S. with international scientists from Africa and elsewhere. One of the main goals of the conference will be to establish an international network or group of scientists that will continue to collaborate, conduct research, share results and offer recommendations based on sound scientific research on health conditions in Africa.

The symposium will be held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the Summer of 2015. We have received funding from the National Science Foundation as well as seed grant from the International Programs and Studies of the University of Illinois. The symposium will allow an interdisciplinary interrogation of the health conditions in Africa after 15 years of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals that were adopted in 2000 by the United Nations. A core group of academic researchers based at the University of Illinois in the fields of medical geography, public/global health, and epidemiology will lead the symposium/workshop. An interdisciplinary group of both young and well established researchers from Africa, Europe, and North America will be invited to actively participate in the planned three day symposium. The need for this symposium is predicated upon what happens once the much talked about millennium development goals come to an end in 2015. What will the landscape of the Post-2015 Millennium Development Agenda look like? We are particularly concerned with socio environmental and geo-political factors affecting health conditions in Africa. The dual burden of diseases (i.e. the presence of both communicable/infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases) is becoming a reality in many African countries (Aikins et al. 2010; Agyei-Mensah and Aikins 2010). This burden makes already fragile, resource-constrained health systems on the continent of Africa even weaker. The scale of the challenge posed demands an extraordinary response, hence the need to bring together a leading interdisciplinary group of researchers to interrogate these issues and advance recommendations for the “Post-2015 Development Agenda.” We will bring together a group of research experts from Africa, Europe and North America to examine the disease burden in Africa and make concrete recommendations on how to tackle it.

National Science Foundation, Illinois Strategic International Partnership, UIUC International Programs and Studies,Hewlett International Conference Grant, UIUC Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, UIUC Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, UIUC Department of Anthropology, UIUC College of Medicine, UIUC Department of Human and Community Development, UIUC Center for African Studies, UIUC Women and Gender in Global Perspectives, UIUC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UIUC School of Social Work, U-COuNTFocal Point Initiative at the UIUC Graduate College, UIUC College of Veterinary Medicine, UIUC College of Business, UIUC Center for Advanced Study