Vice President, John Dramani Mahama has predicted that Africa will fail to meet most of the health Millennium Development Goals targets come 2015, due to weak health financing capacity and health conditions.
“Within the Africa region, we are still struggling with combination of poor health policies, unfair economic arrangements and unfavorable financing arrangements that result in the unequal distribution of health services and damaging experiences.
“Our desire to attain universal health coverage should be built around shared aspirations to develop health on a sustainable basis with a different sense of urgency and determination,” Vice. President Mahama told participants at the first Pan African Health Congress on Universal Coverage in a speech read on his behalf in Accra.
The three-day congress aimed at initiating dialogue among health experts, policy makers, private sector operators, insurance scheme practitioners and implementers and health service providers in Africa. It was as well meant to discuss best ways to initiate and sustain long term health insurance schemes across Africa.
It was hosted by Centre for Health & Social Services (CHeSS), and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and World Health Organisation.
Mr. Mahama observed that the continent has been presented with a unique opportunity to give meaning to equity in health.
He added: “Though countries like Ghana were making progress in health insurance, there were still challenges of many people with chronic conditions and lives threatening degenerative diseases having to look else were to facilitate their access to care.
“The challenges notwithstanding, was the wish of every government to provide access and financial risk protection as a policy goal within the context of universal coverage. This was in recognition of how critical health care was to the economy and social cohesiveness for governments which profess social justice and equity.”
He indicated that government took the bold step to introduce a national health insurance scheme as a way of removing financial barriers to access; this has received mixed reports of commendations and criticisms.
“African health experts must develop a clear technical framework that pulls together all the existing resolution, declaration and commitment to help move the agenda of universal health coverage into an implementable action plan,” Mr. Mahama urged.
Dr. Anarfi Asamoah-Baah, Deputy Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO), said: “Health insurance was a unique intervention to facilitate access to health services and not about diseases or the ministers of health.
“Health insurance requires new skills within the health sectors, which includes economists, financial investment experts, lawyers and strategic managers who can think through and develop the system effectively.
“The WHO is open to these ideas including the participation of academia to partner with government to achieve universal coverage.
“Africa has the expertise and that what was needed was to leverage it and partner with international development partners to achieve the goal of universal coverage.”
Dr. James Nyoro, Managing Director, Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Region Office said: “The Foundation considers Universal Health Coverage as critical to creating affordable, high quality health services that ensures better health outcomes and financial protection especially for the poor and vulnerable groups in Africa and around the world.
“As a philanthropic organization, the Foundation has been working with some countries in Africa and Asia to catalyze change in fostering health Systems research and agenda setting for universal health coverage including enhancing professional capacity to plan and manage high performing health systems.
“Harnessing the resources of the private sector to finance and deliver health systems and leveraging on new technology particularly leveraging interoperable system to enhance the delivery of health service are complimentary to achieving success to the Universal Health Coverage.
“This support is in line with our goal of ensuring that more people can tap into the benefits of globalization while strengthening resilience to communities and individuals.”
Dr. Nyoro observed that a great deal of work has already been done on health insurance on the continent but there is a need to draw available materials together, focus on the neglected issues and integrate insights on these areas into the overall health insurance policy framework.
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