Quest for universal health care
ROSEBANK – An ongoing discussion on how to provide universal health care in Africa was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel with representatives from over 50 countries present.
One of the concerns for the whole continent in recent years has been providing inclusive health care. Universal Health Care (UHC) in Africa is a matter that ministers and ministries of health together with representatives from over 50 countries came to discuss at the third Africa Health Business Symposium (AHBS III). The high-level meeting took place at the Johannesburg Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank.
Emcee and head of stakeholder relations at the Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa (BHF), Zola Mtshiya said about 85 per cent of local citizens get treatment from the public sector, however, faced many challenges. Mtshiya went on to introduce Toda Takao, vice president for Human Security and Global Health at the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Takao said micro and macro enterprises in Japan were interconnected whereas Africa has the advantage of ‘strong social capital’.
“You should wisely think about incentivising rich, influential people and involving them in the running of health care sector services. Also, media should be made use of to ignite, promote and maintain these dynamic discussions as they have a lot of power.”
Executive chairman at the Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, Iqbal Surve said to achieve universal health care, one needs collaboration and participation, but mostly finance is needed. “Government is mostly constrained and in developing countries like ours (SA) where ministries are competing for funds, it becomes difficult to do so. What’s needed is a partnership with private sectors, though that’s easier said than done.”
Surve added that they had decided to invest capital towards producing graduates in health-related degrees and PhDs and going forward they looked to invest in launching a health technology fund.
Having an interest in health care from a very young age, CEO of Equally Health Group, David Luu shared how he had ‘recovered from death, of a loved one, to offering life’. He said, “Sickness can take a long time and during that time that’s how one becomes innovative and comes up with ways of finding health solutions. So that’s how I started, I knocked on doors of hospitals, created mobile clinics in 2015 and we saw it best to come before the disease and prevent it before it becomes serious.”
Luu said they were currently considering the options of delivering UHC using data science, however, one of the challenges was the requirement of 18 million workers needed for that in Africa.
Details: Africa Health Business www.africahealthbusiness.com
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