WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, tells how many African countries are now rallying towards universal health coverage and proactively turning commitment into action to make health for all a reality.
“In the African Region only one in three people has access to essential health services and even among those that do have access, less than half are using the available services.”
No person should suffer ill health because the cost of care is too high or because a health centre is too far away. However, in the African Region only one in three people has access to essential health services and even among those that do have access, less than half are using the available services.
Social and economic barriers – long waiting times, fear of not being understood, not being excused from work and misinformation about healthcare systems – contribute, along with costs and distance, to an unmet need for healthcare in many countries.
Health is both a human right and a national economic concern. The estimated productivity losses due to ill health and premature death in Africa exceeded $2.4 trillion INT in 2015…
Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organization
