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1. The Promise Of Digital Health In Africa

Author:
Odette Kibu, Dr. Asahngwa Constantine, Wilfred Ngwa, Charlotte Bongfen, Ronald Gobina, Nkengafac Fobellah, and Denis Foretia
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Digital Health holds enormous potential to improving access to health care services. It has been well documented that the African health sector is facing challenges in the delivery of high quality healthcare both in terms of development of high quality programs and also in increasing access to health care services. Despite decades of foreign assistance, few countries in the region are able to spend even the $34-$40 per person per year that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers the minimum necessary to provide a population with basic health care. In spite of the billions of dollars of international aid dispensed, an astonishing 50 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total health expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payments from its largely impoverished population. Interventions that aim at increasing access to high quality healthcare in a cost effective way have the potential to greatly transform the health sector. Digital healthcare technology stands out in the 21st century as a major game changer for the health sector and the African continent is well positioned to benefit greatly since technology can help tackle the rising burden of disease and major obstacles in infrastructure and the environment.
Topic:
Science and Technology, World Health Organization, Health Care Policy, Digital Policy, and Global Health
Political Geography:
Africa, Cameroon, and Sub-Saharan Africa

2. China, Africa and the WHO : a challenge for post covid19 multilateralism

Author:
Valerie Niquet
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
Abstract:
China plays a significant role in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, where the current Director-General of the WHO was Minister of Health and then Minister of Foreign Affairs. This opaque influence and the support given by Beijing to Dr. Tedros seems to have weighed on the positions taken by the WHO in the face of the Covid 19 crisis. The consequences of these decisions are now being felt worldwide and contribute to undermining the credibility of a fragile multilateral system.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, United Nations, World Health Organization, Multilateralism, Soft Power, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

3. Lockdown Preventive Measure against COVID-19 Pandemic: Livelihoods Implications in Cameroon

Author:
Dr. Tata E. Sunjo, Adeline Kaptue Wuyt, and Dr. Yauba Saidu
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The entire world today is, in one way or another, affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared to be a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. This outbreak which has spread to all continents (Figure 1) has been characterized by exponential increase in infected cases, attributed deaths and socio-economic hardship. There are already more than 3.8 million confirmed cases globally with over 265 862 deaths (WHO Situation Report, 9 May 2020). The quality of the health system in a given country appears to not be an influential factor in preventing the installation or propagation of the pandemic as the nations with relatively robust health systems like in Europe and the USA have also been hit hard.
Topic:
Health, World Health Organization, Health Care Policy, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

4. Ethnic Politics and Ebola Response in West Africa

Author:
Souleymane Soumahoro
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
In this paper, I examine the effects of power sharing on vulnerability to adverse shocks in a multiethnic setting. Combining a unique dataset on the allocation of ministerial posts across ethnicities with the spatial distribution of Ebola, I provide evidence that ethnic representation mitigated the transmission of Ebola in Guinea and Sierra Leone. The findings suggest that one percentage point increase in proportional cabinet shares reduced Ebola transmission by five percent, as reflected in the total number of confirmed cases. I also provide suggestive evidence that this relationship goes beyond a simple correlation and operates through public resource capture and trust in political institutions.
Topic:
World Health Organization and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

5. Despite Gains, Barriers Keep Health Care High on Africa’s Priority List

Author:
Daniel Armah-Attoh, Edem E. Selormey, and Richard Houessou
Publication Date:
04-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Access to health care gained the spotlight on national and international development agendas when the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration outlined a strategy for achieving universal access to primary health care by the year 2000 (World Health Organization, 1978). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set targets for improving health-care delivery by 2015, and the United Nations’ new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which took effect in January 2016, extend and supplement those with ambitious targets aimed at ensuring healthy lives for all. Despite significant gains under these initiatives, Africans fully support health care’s continued prominence on development agendas: In Afrobarometer surveys across 36 African countries in 2014/2015, citizens rank health as the second-most-important problem (after unemployment) that their governments need to address, as well as the No. 2 priority (after education) requiring additional government investment. While the proportion of Africans going without needed health care has decreased over the past decade, citizens’ perceptions highlight some of the challenges that still stand between current reality and “health for all,”
Topic:
Development, World Health Organization, Governance, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Africa