I spend quite a lot of my professional life working with colleagues in Southem African communities. So I know from my own experience, and from my many African friends and colleagues, what people in Africa are up against. But this is not a good reason for the almost incessant focus of the media on bad news from Africa.

The World Cup is a literal example of Africa succeeding on a world stage. Six African nations – Algeria, Ghana, the Cameroons, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa, more than ever before – qualified among the 32 finalist nations. Some of these teams include star players: the best-known perhaps being Didier Drogba from the Côte d’Ivoire, top scorer for England’s champion team Chelsea, recently featured on the cover of Time magazine with Madonna and Bill Clinton as headliners of its annual ‘world’s 100 most influential people’ feature, and scorer of his side’s consolation goal against Brazil. We harp on Africa’s weaknesses. We need to listen – and watch! – and learn, when Africans play to their strengths.

Bikers for health

There are many success stories in Africa. Most of them are not noticed internationally. One exception is the charity Riders for Health, of which I am a trustee. Its success, now gradually becoming well-known, is relevant to the work of all public health professionals who serve rural communities in Africa. It is based on a challenge to the long-held view that it’s impossible to take primary healthcare services to the more remote rural communities, simply because the roads are impossible and often impassible.

This remains true – if the vehicle is a car other than very expensive and gas-guzzling four-wheel drives. In practically any low-resourced tropical country, back and dirt roads will always be rutted, rough and sometimes practically washed away. But motorcycles can get by. A large part of the work of Riders for Health is training its riders and their colleagues in ‘preventive maintenance’ to ensure that spare parts are at hand and that their bikes are always serviceable. Making transport work in this lower-tech way, using lower-powered bikes and only small amounts of fuel, and relying on local resource and ingenuity, is already making a big difference to the health of thousands of communities in Africa.

In remote rural areas, reliable transport is essential to ensure that pregnant women get help when they need it, and that health workers can reach their communities to deliver a range of services. Riders for Health is built up out of the capacity of local people to help themselves. Philemon Simanyo, an environmental health technician from Zimbabwe, says: ‘We have had vehicles and motorcycles before. The difference is that now they are maintained properly by Riders for Health. Because I have a reliable motorcycle I can cover a large area and prevent the spread of disease. That’s how lives are saved’. This is an African approach, suitable for an African situation.

Becoming more professional

As I’ve mentioned already, a number of us are developing a code of professional conduct for the Association. Members most closely involved include Carlos Monteiro of the University of São Paulo, Roger Shrimpton, former UNSCN executive secretary, and World Nutrition editor Geoffrey Cannon, as well as myself. The code will cover issues like the organisation, work and ethical and professional guidelines, for us as an organisation and for our members.

For me this is all about how we can do our jobs well. Making sure we are well trained and competent is one part of it, staying up to date once in post is another part to it, thinking about the needs of the community form their perspective is another part of it. These are all attributes of professionals. For me it’s also all about respecting and valuing people within their communitie, as Harriet Kuhnlein showed so beautifully last month in her WN commentary.

We have been drafting this Code for a while now, and every time we think we are close to completing a first draft, more issues are revealed. To give a flavour of our thinking so far, here is an extract from the Code’s preamble:

‘ The Association believes that the time has come for us to have a written framework that provides a code of conduct of all spheres of our work. We feel it is necessary to develop this code in order to protect the integrity and credibility of our profession. We believe we need to have a written code of practice against which our professional conduct can be judged; this applies to us as an Association and to us as individual members of the Association. This is usual for other professions, if we are to achieve what we state as our aims, it is critical that what we say and do can be trusted by the wider community, governments, international agencies, and our fellow professionals.

‘ The development of this code is linked to the development and professionalisation of nutrition. To date there are codes of conduct for individuals who become members of professional associations, but there are few explicit codes as to the way professional associations conduct their business. We believe this code should be developed and widely disseminated.

‘ Given that we are committed to improving the nutrition related health and well-being of populations, among other tasks, what we say and do needs to be guided by clear and explicitly stated ethical principles. In order to be credible advocates for nutrition we need to conduct our business in an open and transparent way, so that others can judge whether what we say and do is as fair and accurate as possible’.

Our independence is part of our assets, and it is also a privilege. We need to develop clear and carefully considered principles and guidance on how to uphold our principles. Transparency is crucial. Of course we need funds to achieve our aims, but not at the expense of our integrity and credibility. As part of our work, this website and World Nutrition will also follow guidelines specified in our Code, as will our relations with external bodies, including the food and drink industries.

We are committed to having a final draft of the Code ready for discussion at our general assembly at the Porto Congress this September. If you want to advise or work with the drafting group, please let me know right now.

Association elections

This month, as you see, we announce elections to our Council, and call for members to come forward for election. All members of the Association are being contacted by email, which is how the election is being conducted. The deadline for candidates for Council is the 25th of this month, July, and the deadline for voting is the 25th of next month, August. The results of the elections will be published in our September issue, and the first meeting of the new Council will be held during the second World Public Health Nutrition Congress in Porto. Council membership is for four years.

Please note the deadlines above. If you always meant to become an Association member, but have not yet got around to applying, please go for it now. You must be a member to support a candidate or to be a candidate, and you must be a member to be able to vote. We have developed job descriptions for key posts, to emphasise that we need Council members who are willing and able to put in a regular significant number of hours, to maintain and develop the Association and all we stand for.

We are looking for energy and passion. We need young members, more women, and members from less-resourced parts of the world, as Council members. We also have jobs ready to be done by members who maybe don’t yet feel ready to be full Council members, but who do want to lend a hand, say on this website, or on workforce development, or on developing networks of members in regions of the world.

Can we collectively make a difference? Here is what the great US anthropologist Margaret Mead said. ‘Never doubt that a small group of determined, committed citizens can change the course of history. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has’.

If you care about public health nutrition and want to make a difference, please get involved now. This is your big chance. If you want more advice and guidance, here I am:
 

Barrie Margetts
Email: b.m.margetts@soton.ac.uk