The African Journal of Primary Health Care & Familiy Medicine (PHCFM) is co-financed by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), Department of University Cooperation for Development, through the project VLIR-ZEIN 2006 PR320, with financial support from the Belgian government, Directorate General for Development Cooperation. 

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Visit the website of VLIR: www.vliruos.be

The journal also received sponsorship in 2009 from the Flemish Interuniversity Centre for Family Medicine Education (www.icho.be), the Global Health through Education Training and Service (www.ghets.org), the Network Towards Unity for Health (www.the-networktufh.org), the European Forum for Primary Care (www.euprimarycare.org) and Edulink (www.acp-edulink.eu).

Primafamed provided the opportunity to launch PHCFM at the 'Improving the Quality of Family Medicine Training in Sub-Saharan Africa' conference in Kampala, Uganda, on 17–21 November 2008. AOSIS OpenJournals representative, Professor Pierre de Villiers (Editor-in-Chief since 2012), launched the journal at the conference with many members of the editorial board present at this event. The press conference also included talks on Primafamed and the 15by2015 project.

About Primafamed
Brought about by the need to develop an accessible, high quality comprehensive primary health care system for Africa, Primafamed is a project run by the University of Ghent in Belgium and financed by Edulink-ACP-EU working to establish an institutional network between departments or units of family medicine and primary health care in universities in 10 African countries. The main aims of the project are to:

• create a forum for international cooperation to enhance the quality of programme content, educational methods and training in family medicine
• encourage research collaboration in family medicine and primary health care education
• strengthen the development of departments of family medicine/primary health care in African countries
• contribute to the improvement of access to quality primary health care, especially for the most vulnerable communities in Africa.

The objective of this network is to develop a comprehensive vision and strategy that delineates the integral contribution of family medicine and the primary health care team to an equitable and quality primary health care system. Participating institutions include: Université de Goma, DR Congo Moi University, Kenya National University of Rwanda, Rwanda Aga Khan University, Tanzania University of Lagos, Nigeria Makerere University, Uganda Mbarara University, Uganda Ahfad University for Women, Sudan University of Gezira, Sudan University of Ghana, Ghana Interuniversity Center for GP-education (ICHO), Belgium Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care (incorporating FAMEC) World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) Global Health through Education, Training and Service (GHETS) The Network Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) German Development Service (DED). For more information, please contact Maaike Flinkenflögel, MD, Primafamed Project Coordinator, at www.primafamed.ugent.be.

About 15by2015
Basic healthcare in developing countries is often characterised by a lack of adequate funding and resources. In an attempt to redress the balance between North and South, donors pour money into developing countries, but its allocation is often problematic. The vast majority of donor aid is allocated to disease-specific projects ('vertical programmes'), such as HIV/AIDS programs, while the death rate remains higher for common conditions like malnutrition, diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections. The '15by2015' campaign seeks to make all influencing stakeholders aware of an adequate strategy to improve health care. A main focus of the campaign is to encourage donor organisations to allocate 15% of their disease-specific funding towards the development of 'horizontal' primary health care systems, which will help disperse funding across all areas of healthcare and ultimately lead to improved primary health care provision. Community-oriented primary health care is a cost-effective way to strengthen the quality of both the prevention and treatment of all illnesses, and of empowering individuals and communities. 15by2015 member organisations include:

• World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA)
• Global Health through Education Training and Service (GHETS)
• Network Towards Unity for Health (www.the-networktufh.org)
• European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC)
• Health Alliance International (HAI)
• Doctors for Global Health (DGH) For more information please contact 15by2015@ghets.org, or visit the 15by2015 website at www.15by2015.org.