Health when drafting healthcare policies because it is these determinants that affect health outcomes and , in turn , determine people overall well-being .
The World Health Organization outlines six building blocks of an efficient healthcare system : health service , healthcare workforce , health information systems , medical devices and products , health financing , and health leadership and governance . Not only should the six building blocks be present , but they must also work together for there to be an efficient healthcare system . Most importantly , WHO focuses on leadership and governance because it is the revolving platform on which the other five blocks operate . Therefore , good leadership is the oxygen of a nation ’ s healthcare system .
These building blocks can be used as a measure to evaluate the resources that countries allocate to the health sector , such as human resources , technology and financial investments . As mentioned earlier , the interconnection between these pillars is key to guaranteeing an effective healthcare system .
The first block – Health Services – depends on the ability of a country ’ s governance system to deliver effective , safe and quality healthcare services to its people whenever and wherever they are needed . This refers to the primary healthcare system , whose fundamental philosophy should be to ensure that the entire population have access to essential healthcare services . However , the notion of access and coverage invariably bring questions about the infrastructure into the equation .
Although fundamental , the focus shouldn ’ t be on health infrastructure ( such as hospitals ) alone , but also on general infrastructure that will attract the necessary qualified medical personnel and reduce the urban exodus by encouraging the locals to participate in the economy of their regions .
The second block – Healthcare Workforce – reflects the ability of the leadership to design an education system that produces health providers proportional to the population and provides for their continuous training . The training must include specialized and multidisciplinary personnel , from laboratory technicians to experimental surgeons , to ensure the best possible outcomes .
Highly selective medical schools
Clinical fields , such as medicine , midwifery , nursery are skills like any other skill . Unfortunately , even when it is clear that Africa ’ s reality requires a huge number of clinical-related jobs – Africa currently has an average of 0.2 medical doctors per 1,000 people – medical schools in Africa continue to be excessively selective , a challenge that must be reconsidered if we are to produce the workforce that caters to people ’ s multi-faceted healthcare needs .
The medical profession is afforded a status in society as a “ higher-calling ” Because at its core it is supposed to attract those who are primarily driven by the desire to serve their communities , and this should remain the main criterion of selection . However , the tendency has been a gap between haves and have nots in terms of their access to the profession making facilitating inclusion of passionate young people from disadvantaged backgrounds whose primary ambition is to serve their communities an issue of pressing urgency , if the profession is to return to its noble instinct .
The third block – Health information systems – is the backbone of an efficient healthcare system . It addresses data , which allows the proper analysis and dissemination of reliable information : Continuous data gathering and analysis reveal important systemic – and even social – health determinants that require attention and intervention to improve the system . And for that to be achieved , public and private investments in African health tech startups are crucial .
The fourth block – Medical devices and products – is another cornerstone of a vibrant healthcare system . Since the Covid-19 pandemic , Africa has learnt the imperative necessity of the manufacturing of vaccines . Almost all our medical devices , from medical PPEs to test kits , had to be imported . Worst still , Africa ’ s own shortcomings are compounded by external factors and actors . For instance , the pharmaceutical industry ’ s reluctance to share the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool ( C-TAP ) with African countries reinforces the point that Africa urgently needs to invest in its own manufacturing capacity of medical products . This only validates the principle that everything
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