By Rebecca Ekpe
Managing Director for the Board of Healthcare Farmers in South Africa, Dr. Katiego Mathudi says Africa does not have the luxury of waiting or the option of negating the consequences of not implementing access to Universal Health Coverage.
Speaking exclusively to gbcghanaonline.com on the side-lines of the 2nd Health Harm Reduction Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Dr. Mathudi said, ‘’everybody is moving towards the implementation of Universal Health Coverage, ….we have to think about matters of equity and disasters like what has just happened here, what you’ve seen in here in other countries, while it has an impact on the country, those that are largely impacted are the vulnerable’’.
What is Universal Health Coverage?
According to the United Nations, Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. ‘’It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care’’.
The UN says, ‘’every country has a different path to achieving UHC and deciding what to cover based on the needs of their people and the resources at hand’’. However, the importance of ‘’access to health services and information as a basic human right is universal’’.
There is a 2030 agenda set for the Sustainable Development Goals, that is, ‘’to make health for all a reality, all people must have access to high quality services for their health and the health of their families and communities’’.
Furthermore, ‘’skilled health workers providing quality, people-centred care; and policy-makers committed to investing in Universal Health Coverage are essential’’.
Universal health coverage requires strong, people-centred primary health care. Good health systems are rooted in the communities they serve, and ‘’they focus not only on preventing and treating disease and illness, but also on helping to improve well-being and quality of life’’.
The South African perspective:
Dr. Katiego Mathudi shared the South African story and says when it comes to Health harm reduction, the issues are not far-fetched in his country’s scenario.
‘’So from the angle of harm reduction, as well as looking out for the vulnerable, the discussions are not far removed from what we need to do as a country in South Africa, but also as a Continent’’.
‘’If you look at the resources that we have as a Continent, we are far from where we need to be. So if you are going to talk about harm reduction, you have to look and say do we have all the resources from human resources perspective, the financial resources, etc.’’
It is clear that Africa needs to find the resources, human and material to address its issues, especially when it comes to the agenda of Health Harm Reduction. The South African Heat Expert, Dr. Katiego Mathudi proffers more collaboration among African countries in addressing the issues that confront the Continent.
‘’Of note is that while some of our governments appear to have some resources either, we are not great at managing the little that we have’’.
‘’We are also not great at keeping human resources, specifically we are losing them to the rest of the world. So we have to focus on how to make sure that we can train them and once we’ve trained them, we are able to keep them by making sure that we provide a safe environment as well as adequate motivation to make sure that the health workforce is looked after’’.
He said, ‘’while the discussion here is around disaster management, you have to take a step back and say when you’re going to invest in prevention and also reduction of harm, who? Are you using tools or the various tools that you have and it comes right to human resources, infrastructure, etc. So there’s a lot of convergence that we can find in what we are doing and what is happening in other countries. And in other words, you want to see more collaboration, yes, within the Continent, ’’ Dr. Mathudi asserts.
