Improving healthcare systems and the delivery of affordable, accessible healthcare services in African countries are key requisites for the optimal growth of the continent's economies as the health of a nation is intrinsically linked to its potential to thrive and optimise productivity. Although many African countries' increased focus on strengthening their healthcare systems in recent years has led to significant gains in terms of improving health outcomes, the continent continues to struggle with huge challenges such as underfunding, dire shortages of healthcare professionals and a growing double disease burden that encompasses both communicable diseases (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
To discuss innovative solutions to address the challenges, with the aim of sharing best practices and experiences, leading healthcare partners from Africa and across the world gathered in Johannesburg from the 1st to the 2nd of December 2016 for the 2nd Future Trends Forum in Africa. Hosted by global pharmaceutical pharmacy company, Novartis, in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch Business School, the Forum was one of a series of Future Trends Forums that have been organised by Novartis since 2008, in collaboration with other healthcare partners in different parts of the world. The main aim of the Future Trends Forum is to bring the leading minds in healthcare together to share best practices and experiences in building healthcare systems in emerging markets. The first Future Trends Forum in Africa was held in March 2015 in Lusaka in Zambia.
According to Dr Thomas Kowallik, CEO and Country President of Novartis in South Africa, the building of effective healthcare systems in Africa poses huge opportunities for investors in healthcare in terms of issues such as the establishment of infrastructure, and developing technology and systems to provide effective, affordable and accessible medicines and healthcare services.
Discussing Africa's unique challenges and possible solutions, specifically around healthcare financing , and access to medicines, Prof Panos Kanavos from the London School of Economics' (LSE) International Health Policy division in the Department of Social Policy, emphasised that healthcare is top priority for economic growth by most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Prof Kanavos is also the Programme Director of the Medical Technology Research group at LSE.
He cited achieving measurable results in terms of health outcomes to incorporate healthcare financing mechanisms that offer financial protection to patients against catastrophic healthcare expenditures due to ill health, strengthening governance through an enabling legislative framework and ensuring transparency and accountability and open communication with stakeholders. In addition, he added that strengthening primary healthcare through a strong referral system, regulation of private health insurance (PHI) and health technology assessment (HTA) as well as economic evaluations to inform spending on technology, pharmaceutical and diagnostic aids, are crucial to improving population health.
Looking at achievements relating to increased healthcare spending per capita and reduced mortality rates in ten African countries from 2004 and 2015, Prof Kanavos presented research findings showing South Africa to be the top spender per capita on healthcare per year (rising from $80 per capita in 2004 to $540 in 2014). However, it is one of the countries that has made the least progress to decrease mortality rates over the past decade (from 52.8 per 100 000 population in 2005 to 33.6 in 2015). In contrast, a country such as Rwanda spends only around 54 dollars per capita (up from about $15 in 2005), but has managed to bring down its mortality rate from 77.7 per 100 000 population to 31 in 2015.
