AU to tackle healthcare

Thandeka Moyo, Health Reporter
THE African Union will next week meet and deliberate on how to help member states invest in healthcare with statistics showing that most Governments have failed to provide quality healthcare for their citizens.

The countries are signatories to the 2004 Abuja Declaration which obligates Heads of State to ensure their countries budget at least US$86 per person towards healthcare.

More than half of Africa’s population currently lacks access to essential health services, and millions die every year from common preventable diseases.

Zimbabwe stands at 6,67 percent and has never met the Abuja Declaration target to allocate at least 15 percent of the total budget towards health.

At least 6,57 percent of the total budget was allocated towards health in 2015 while in 2016 there was a slight increase to 7,46 percent which however, declined to 6,88 percent in 2017 and 5,84 percent in 2018.

In a statement, the AU said African Heads of State and Government, business leaders and global health organisations will gather on February 9, 2019 in Addis

Ababa to launch a new initiative designed to help deliver increased, sustained and more impactful financing for health across Africa.

“These increased investments have seen visible results in communities across Africa with shining examples of strengthened sub-national and national health systems.

“While African countries have made huge strides in increasing domestic investments in health, only 2 out of the 55 AU Member States meet Africa’s target of dedicating at least 15 percent of the government budget to health,” said the AU.

Only South Africa and Rwanda have managed to meet the suggested threshold of US$86.30 per person required to provide a basic package of health services.

“For the world’s most youthful continent, future growth and prosperity depends on developing and nurturing human capital,” said the AU.

According to the same statement, “Investing in Health meeting will be the first platform bringing together governments, private sector and the global development community to co-ordinate and accelerate progress towards achieving universal health coverage”.

According to the 2018 World Health Organisation Global Health Expenditure Database, African countries are gradually increasing domestic investments in health with 35 out of 55 having increased the percentage of their Gross Domestic Product invested in health.

— @thamamoe