Special Focus: issues affecting Orphans- Healthcare

Contributed by Blog Writer: Mashfiq Rahman

The current discussion on health care reform in United States has forced us to look at other healthcare system around the world. It is generally believed that many countries in the world have better healthcare system than the one in United States. However, that is not true for many of the countries in Africa.

Overall, the facts about the healthcare in Africa are quite grim. In 2002, 70% of people living with AIDS worldwide resided in Africa, home to only 10% of the world's population. Africa is the only continent where life expectancy has dropped below levels set in 1950s. According to United Nations, about 6000 children lose one of their parents to AIDS everyday, and 90 percent of these children are in Africa. Not to mention the fact that Africa spends three times more on repaying debts to rich Western countries and institutions than it does on providing health services and drugs for its sick and poor population.

Even in stabilized countries like South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia, Zambia and Ghana, political and social stability has brought further scrutiny on how they manage diseases. Managing diabetes, heart disease and cancer require a sustainable health care infrastructure which these countries lack due to crude network of unpaved roads and rural villages.

How to fix healthcare in Africa? One solution is to find a more efficient system of providing generic drugs, vaccines and other simple treatments. Many lives will be saved by providing inexpensive, basic remedies and cheap medicines. Generic antibiotics are capable of saving many of the 1.8 million who die every year from bacterial pneumonia. In fact, around 50 cent is sufficient to treat Malnutrition or diarrhea. Another way to ensure a dependable supply of high-quality drugs is to copy the tactics of retail franchises. Health Store Foundation in Africa is developing retail franchises by subsidizing nurses in rural parts of Kenya to open for-profit retail clinics. Charitable foundations in Kenya, created by Health Store, provide drugs and supplies, train nurses and check clinics to ensure quality standards. Kenya's 65 shops have so far treated 400,000 patients and there are plans to expand into other countries.

In Africa, only 1.3% of the world’s health workers are available to combat against its 25% share of the world’s diseases. If developed countries provide part-time community workers, they will make sure people are taking their daily HIV or TB medicines and provide basic health education. Community workers are vital in improving infra-structures to poor African communities. Nurses can be provided to distant parts of Africa that has no access to health care. Instead of sending just donations, developed countries might send financial experts to provide remote clinics in Africa with basic management expertise. Rural health centers need all sorts of help tracking expenses, setting up drug-order systems and learning back-office functions. Also, cheap and long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed net provided to villages are an easy way to prevent malaria. Trials in the 1990s showed the nets could reduce malaria cases by 60% and child mortality by nearly 20%.

Victor Barnes, who directs health initiatives at the Corporate Council on Africa, says the private sector is needed to maximize those resources. A combination made between allocated funds and the expertise of corporations that recognize "enlightened self-interest" will help achieve significant return on investment in Africa's health care marketplace.

Recently President Barack Obama pledged $63 billion for health care in Africa during his visit to Ghana. He said the amount will go to strengthen public health. However, this plan can only be viewed with skepticism due to America’s current domestic healthcare and economic development. The tragic fact that Africa's most productive population is being decimated, paints a gloomy picture for the future. It is the children, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and young energetic farmers and workers who are most affected. The rest of the world needs to take steps to fix Africa’s healthcare inadequacies and end the plunging of living standards in Africa.

Sources:

In Pictures: Seven Ways To Fix Health Care In Africa

http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/11/africa-health-fix-bizsci-cz_rl_1011africa_slide_3.html?thisSpeed=15000