Rationale
The health sector in Africa faces a number of challenges. The public health sector is unable to meet the countries’ healthcare needs. Even though most of the donor money is channeled through the public sector, health care and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis remain inaccessible to the vast majority of Africans. Good quality basic public health care is still primarily available to the rich. This while Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 60% of the world’s malaria cases, 30% of tuberculosis cases and two-third of HIV/AIDS cases.
An estimated 50-70% of Africa’s healthcare expenses is financed out of pocket. This often causes financial problems for families when they are faced with unexpected catastrophic health expenses. Making them fall into a poverty trap and consequently leading to further inequity.
Low quality
In addition, the large and arbitrary nature of the out-of-pocket expenses makes it difficult for private providers to obtain long-term capital. This prevents the essential improvement and expansion of clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and services. And without this improvement, people are not willing to pay for healthcare services.
Furthermore, lack of risk pooling means that there is hardly any solidarity. An innovative healthcare model is therefore needed to increase the demand for pre-paid health care and improve the quality of healthcare delivery.