Health systems as a neglected developmental pillar: the case of Ebola in West Africa
OUTPUT TYPE: Policy briefs
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2015
TITLE AUTHOR(S): N.M.Mathye, D.Sega, P.Sekhejane
KEYWORDS: EBOLA VIRUS, HEALTH SERVICES, WEST AFRICA
DEPARTMENT: African Institute of South Africa (AISA)
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 8823
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/1780
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/1780
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2015
TITLE AUTHOR(S): N.M.Mathye, D.Sega, P.Sekhejane
KEYWORDS: EBOLA VIRUS, HEALTH SERVICES, WEST AFRICA
DEPARTMENT: African Institute of South Africa (AISA)
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 8823
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/1780
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/1780
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
At a macro-level there appears to be a shift taking place in health care in Africa and related outputs. Weak and burdened management of social services is unable to cope with the ever increasing human development challenges which unfortunately continue to linger on even today on the continent. As a developmental state-building pillar and human right, access to public health care remains widely limited, with many health systems still largely underdeveloped and suffering from 'brain drain' and the effects of dwindling education systems. Now more than ever it is crucial that African leadership give due consideration to the developmental rewards of an efficient and effective health care system something which has been largely neglected thus far. It comes as no surprise that Africa was unable to come forward as a primary respondent with an adequate response to the West African Ebola crisis of 2014. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines a health care system as a collection of institutions, organisations and resources whose primary function is to improve health through responsiveness and financial fairness. A central requirement for such a system to operate well is that it should be highly interdependent, requiring intact stewardship in order for all actors concerned to benefit and progress.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Letter to the editor: west Africa health workers tackling Ebola: living up their oath
- A history of public health in South Africa
- HIV/AIDS in South Africa: entitlement and rights to health-implications of the 2002 household survey
- Where have all the ambulances gone?: the role of GIS in injury surveillance
- Facts, fiction or fabrication? Service delivery, 1994-1999
- Safe water, access to health care and other factors affecting infant and child survival under African and coloured populations in South Africa
- On global security: a suggested interpretation for Southern Africa
- The impact of HIV/AIDS on the health sector: national survey of health personnel, ambulatory and hospitalised patients and health facilities, 2002
- HIV/AIDS prevalence among South African health workers
- Filling the gap: civil society organisations and service delivery to farm workers in the Free State
- Clinics and crime: the good and bad of South Africa's transition for the health of her citizens
- Evidence, policies and practices: continuities and discontinuities in mental health promotion in a developing country
- Health care-seeking behaviour for child illnesses among rural mothers in South Africa: a pilot study
- Social health insurance and tax-based funding of health
- Experiences and needs of older persons in Mpumalanga
- Baseline assessment: European Union partnerships for the delivery of primary health care programme in South Africa
- Bush and the global gag rule: trick or treat?
- HIV risk exposure among young children: a study of 2-9 year olds served by public health facilities in the Free State, South Africa
- The challenges HIV/AIDS poses to nurses in their work environment
- Financing healthcare in South Africa