towards-universal-health-coverage-in-the-african-region;hr

African traditional medicine (ATM) and traditional health practitioners (THPs) could make significant contributions to the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC). Consequently, the WHO provided technical tools to assist African countries to develop ATM as a significant component of healthcare. Many African countries adopted the WHO tools after appropriate modifications to advance research and development (R&D) of ATM. An analysis of the extent of this development was undertaken through a survey of 47 countries in the WHO African region. Results show impressive advances in R&D of ATM, the collaboration between THP and conventional health practitioners, quality assurance as well as regulation, registration and THP integration into the national health systems. We highlight the various ways investment in the R&D of ATM can impact on policy, practice and the three themes of UHC. We underscore the need for frameworks for fair and equitable sharing of all benefits arising from the R&D of ATM products involving all the stakeholders. We argue for further investment in ATM as a complement to conventional medicine to promote attainment of the objectives of UHC.

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Towards universal health coverage in the WHO African Region: assessing health system functionality, incorporating lessons from COVID-19

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004618 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. e004618

Author(s):

Humphrey Cyprian Karamagi ◽

Prosper Tumusiime ◽

Regina Titi-Ofei ◽

Benson Droti ◽

Hillary Kipruto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Health Systems ◽

Universal Health Coverage ◽

System Development ◽

Health Coverage ◽

African Region ◽

Policy Action ◽

Related Services ◽

Essential Services ◽

Universal Health

The move towards universal health coverage is premised on having well-functioning health systems, which can assure provision of the essential health and related services people need. Efforts to define ways to assess functionality of health systems have however varied, with many not translating into concrete policy action and influence on system development. We present an approach to provide countries with information on the functionality of their systems in a manner that will facilitate movement towards universal health coverage. We conceptualise functionality of a health system as being a construct of four capacities: access to, quality of, demand for essential services and its resilience to external shocks. We test and confirm the validity of these capacities as appropriate measures of system functionality. We thus provide results for functionality of the 47 countries of the WHO African Region based on this. The functionality of health systems ranges from 34.4 to 75.8 on a 0–100 scale. Access to essential services represents the lowest capacity in most countries of the region, specifically due to poor physical access to services. Funding levels from public and out-of-pocket sources represent the strongest predictors of system functionality, compared with other sources. By focusing on the assessment on the capacities that define system functionality, each country has concrete information on where it needs to focus, in order to improve the functionality of its health system to enable it respond to current needs including achieving universal health coverage, while responding to shocks from challenges such as the 2019 coronavirus disease. This systematic and replicable approach for assessing health system functionality can provide the guidance needed for investing in country health systems to attain universal health coverage goals.

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Protocol for a scoping review of implementation research approaches to universal health coverage in Africa

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041721 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. e041721

Author(s):

Chukwudi A Nnaji ◽

Charles S Wiysonge ◽

Joseph Okeibunor ◽

Thobile Malinga ◽

Abdu A Adamu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Universal Health Coverage ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Implementation Research ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Health Coverage ◽

African Region ◽

Quantitative Evidence ◽

Scoping Reviews ◽

Universal Health

IntroductionImplementation research has emerged as part of evidence-based decision-making efforts to plug current gaps in the translation of research evidence into health policy and practice. While there has been a growing number of institutions and initiatives promoting the uptake of implementation research in Africa, their role and effectiveness remain unclear, particularly in the context of universal health coverage (UHC). This review aims to extensively identify and characterise the nature, facilitators and barriers to the use of implementation research for assessing or evaluating UHC-related interventions or programmes in Africa.Methods and analysisThis scoping review will be developed based on the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley and enhanced by the Joanna Briggs Institute. It will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. A comprehensive search of the following electronic databases will be conducted: Medline (via PubMed), Scopus and the Cochrane Library. Relevant grey literature and reference lists will also be searched. All publications describing the application of implementation research in the context of UHC will be considered for inclusion. Findings will be narratively synthesised and analysed using a predefined conceptual framework. Where applicable, quantitative evidence will be aggregated using summary statistics. There will be consultation of stakeholders, including UHC-oriented health professionals, programme managers, implementation researchers and policy-makers; to provide methodological, conceptual and practical insights.Ethics and disseminationThe data used in this review will be sourced from publicly available literature; hence, this study will not require ethical approval. Findings and recommendations will be disseminated to reach a diverse audience, including UHC advocates, implementation researchers and key health system stakeholders within the African region. Additionally, findings will be disseminated through an open-access publication in a relevant peer-reviewed journal.

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