Charging patients for basic health care hits the poorest members of society the hardest. Many fall into debt or simply do not seek care from public health services. The Commission for Africa has called for basic health care to be free for everyone. How would this impact on already under resourced health services?
Resource allocation and health financing
A free for all? Removing health user fees in Africa
Gilson L, McIntyre D: id21 Health Systems, 31 May 2006
A price to pay? Increasing insecticide-treated net coverage in Malawi
Stevens W, Wiseman V, Ortiz J: id21Health, 31 May 2006
Nets treated with insecticide have proved to be an effective method of reducing malaria. Before increasing the scale of this intervention, however, policymakers need to be fully informed of the costs involved and the effect that the scaling-up will have. Cost-effectiveness has been measured in trials, but what does the intervention cost in practice?
Anti-malarial treatment in Tanzania: Differences in willingness to pay
Wiseman V, Onwujekwe O, Matovu F: ID21 Health, 31 May 2006
The appearance and rapid spread of resistance to anti-malarial drugs has created a crisis for effective treatment in Africa. Consensus is growing that the only realistic treatment option will be a move away from treatment with one drug (monotherapy) to the more expensive combination therapies, particularly artemisinin-based combinations. However, a potential obstacle to the introduction of this new type of treatment is that it costs up to ten times more than monotherapy. There is concern that if poor patients’ families have to bear the cost of the drug combinations, they might delay treatment or avoid it altogether.
From funding to action: Strengthening healthcare systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
World Economic Forum: AllAfrica.com, 1 June 2006
In the first ever project of its kind, the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative has brought together a range of stakeholders to identify how business could partner with the public sector to improve healthcare systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. The resulting White Paper for consultation collects the views of diverse stakeholders on the barriers to effective healthcare systems in the region, and identifies opportunities for business to use its knowledge and skills to help tackle the problems through new public private partnerships. If turned into action some of the strategic interventions identified in this paper could contribute to improving access to health for millions of Africans.
Gender and social security in South Africa
Lund F: Eldis, 8 June 2006
This paper attempts to lay the basis for a gendered analysis of the scope, coverage and impact of the main components of social assistance in South Africa. This gendered approach draws attention to the serious gaps in knowledge about the scope of the social assistance system and its socio economic effects. More work is needed on the welfare system as a provider of employment, on the effects of the balance of public-versus private sector provision on gendered patterns on employment, on the dynamics of the care economy, and on the interaction between these.
Push for new tactics as war on malaria falters
Furrer M: New York Times, 28 June 2006
An emerging consensus on solutions, combined with fresh scrutiny and a windfall of new financing, are prompting major donors to revamp years of failed efforts to stem malaria's mortal toll. The growing support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, enriched this week by a $31 billion gift from Warren E. Buffett, will provide still more impetus for change. US A.I.D. is reported to be shifting its focus from mainly backing the sale of subsidized mosquito nets in Africa to giving more of them away to poor people; to providing combination drugs given the growth of resistance to older, cheaper medicines and to supporting large-scale programs to spray insecticides, including DDT.
'Medical scheme hinders freedom of choice'
SAPA, 23 May 2006
The Public Servants' Association (PSA) in South Africa has voiced concern over restrictions imposed by the Government Employees Medical Aid Scheme (Gems). It welcomed the restructuring current medical aid assistance to make medical cover more affordable, but questioned the compulsory membership of Gems.
A burden that will only become heavier
IPS, 28 May 2006: Palitza, K
Researchers say they are bracing for a sharp rise in the cost of public health services in South Africa within the next few years, due to HIV/AIDS. And, they warn that the country's health department might not be able to cope with its ever-growing responsibilities if government fails to increase the department's budget substantially.
Benn challenges west to fund African NHS
Guardian Unlimited: Mulholland H
Rich countries should back their poorer neighbours in setting up free universal healthcare to help save thousands of lives, Hilary Benn, the minister for international development, will told public service workers in the UK in May.
Gates turns attention to fighting TB
Ireland online, 25 May 2006
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has announced that it would give $104m to a non-profit organisation that fights tuberculosis (TB), a scourge in the developing world. The money will be doled out over five years to the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development to develop new drugs to combat a disease that kills nearly two million people a year. The four available drugs currently used to treat the disease are all more than 40 years old and take six months to work, while many patients have tuberculosis strains that are resistant to existing treatments.