Regional Organizations and Health Equity

For many years regional organizations were regarded as entities that dwelt mainly on trade liberalization and in certain instances, on security as well. After the 1990s many regional organizations widened their mandates to also incorporate elements of social policies including health. This is particularly significant as coordinated approaches are often needed within a given geographic space to address health challenges. The current health challenges related to the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa could have been different had there been robust and more efficient collaborative tools such as effective early warning systems shared between the member states of the region.