It is lamentable that about 672 million Africans or 48 per cent of the continent’s population lack access to quality health care services. The startling revelation was contained in a statement to mark this year’s World Health Day (WHD) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. She attributed the shortfall to weak health systems characterised by inadequate health infrastructure and poorly designed policies to limit financial barriers to health services.
Moeti also identified shortage of qualified health workers; inadequate access to quality medicines, medical products, and innovative technologies as part of the causes of the health crisis on the continent. The COVID-19 pandemic, other health emergencies, and worsening climate situations, are also factors she said negatively impact Africa’s efforts to accelerate progress toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Moeti, recommended strengthening health systems based on strong Primary Health Care (PHC) as being crucial to building back better and accelerating progress towards UHC and health security.
WHD is celebrated annually on April 7 to draw attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. The theme for this year was ‘Health for all.’
Though the index on the low-quality health care in Africa is not entirely new, the number of people affected is staggering and regrettable. With an estimated African population of 1.4 billion, the quoted 672 million, represents 48 per cent of the continent. What it means is that almost half of the population of the continent lack access to quality health care. The immediate impact is dwindling life expectancy. It is an indictment on the governments and leadership of the continent.
The WHO revelation is a wake-up call on political leaders on the continent to invest so much in health. Since health is wealth, African countries must prioritise access to quality health services for their citizens. Let African leaders go back to the recommendation of the Abuja Declaration on health for the continent. Irked by the deficiencies in their health systems, African heads of states and governments under the African Union (AU) had in April 2001 agreed to dedicate at least 15 per cent of their annual budgets to the health sector in their famous ‘Abuja Declaration.’
While countries like Rwanda and South Africa and some others have met the commitment by allocating at least 15 per cent of their total budgets to health, many others, including Nigeria, are yet to do so. We call on the governments of these countries to honour the agreement. They should make provision for quality health for their people, especially the vulnerable. The affected countries can do so by increasing their budgetary allocations to the health sector and work towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
We commend the Federal Government for increasing the allocation for health in the 2023 budget. Analysis of the budget shows that N1.17 trillion was allocated to the health sector out of the total of N20.5 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year. That was a significant improvement compared with experiences in the past. Though the increase amounts to 5.75 per cent of the 2023 total budget, it still falls short of the agreement at the Abuja Declaration. More needs to be done to reposition the sector.
Let all tiers of government take adequate measures to holistically revamp the ailing health sector. They must invest heavily in the health sector. As part of the measures to achieve the UHC, let the government ensure that there is at least one primary healthcare centre (PHC) in each of the 774 local government areas across the country.
The PHCs should be adequately funded and equipped to be able to take care of the basic health needs of the people. It is the inability of the centre to provide basic medical services to the people that has exposed the secondary and tertiary health-care facilities to undue pressure.
Instructively, Nigeria has enough human and material resources to improve the health sector and ensure that its citizens have access to quality health care services. A functional health system will positively affect other sectors, especially, education.