How to finance healthcare systems in West Africa?
The question was at the heart of a virtual round table on financing healthcare systems in West Africa. The organizer, Gilles Yabi, head of the Wathi think tank, , believes that the issue of strengthening health systems must be kept in the public debate as the Covid-19 health crisis begins to subside.
Three experts were invited to take part in this virtual space, providing concrete information. These are :
- Ms Anne-Marie Borso Mbengue-Seye, consultant in health system strengthening and financing, and Managing Director of the AFRIVAC Foundation, which mobilizes additional private resources for vaccination campaigns,
- Dr Pierre Yameogo, Technical Secretary for Universal Health Coverage at the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health, and
- the Director of Studies and Programming at Niger’s Ministry of Public Health, Dr Djibo Garba.
These experts are unanimous on many points, such as the importance of knowing where you put your money, how you spend it and when, in order to be more efficient. And it is precisely to reduce waste and corruption that the involvement of civil society organizations is crucial. This is the case in Burkina Faso, underlines Dr Yaméogo, where a community watch system has been set up to enable the population to exercise citizen control.
In essence, the webinar highlighted the need for a combination of strong political will, substantial external funding and a serious and sustainable strengthening of administrative structures. Ministries of health must be able to ensure that all interventions in the sector correspond to nationally-defined guidelines, based on a detailed understanding of the real needs of the population.
