Latest news with #universalhealthcoverage
Malay Mail
01-08-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Dzulkefly: 13MP health budget hike to RM40b aims to tackle ageing, disease burden
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — The RM40 billion allocated to the health sector under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) has been described as clear proof of the government's commitment to realise the goal of universal health coverage, thus ensuring no one is marginalised from accessing quality health services. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the latest allocation, compared to about RM35 billion previously, is a strong signal that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is clearly committed to driving comprehensive and inclusive reforms in the country's health system. 'So, it clearly shows the Prime Minister's commitment towards the sensitivity and importance of ensuring that the health sector continues to be upheld. 'I want this responsibility and trust to be borne by all Ministry of Health (MOH) staff to drive and fulfil the need to implement this health reform and improve the health delivery system so that we can achieve universal health,' he said. He told reporters this after the 7th Series of the Malaysia Madani Scholars' Forum at a leading hotel here tonight, which was also attended by Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof chaired the forum, titled 'Towards A Sustainable Healthcare System For All'. Dzulkefly also described the increased allocation as significant in addressing the various challenges currently faced by the health sector, including an ageing population, increased infectious and non-infectious diseases and medical inflation. 'All these clearly indicate that the Prime Minister (PMX) really wants to lead efforts to resolve various problems we are facing, including in terms of health facilities. 'Therefore, I am extremely grateful for such a huge allocation, which gives us an additional RM4 billion or so every year,' he said. — Bernama
The Herald
31-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald
Nurses in private and public practice exchange notes at annual conference
For two consecutive years, the African Nursing Conference has provided a platform for public and private practitioners to learn more about each other. This is according to Dr Tracey de Klerk, chair of the Gauteng department of health, who was speaking at the two-day Fifth African Nursing Conference which started on Wednesday and will continue until Thursday at the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg. 'For the past two conferences, there were many requests for the public to know more about private, and private to know more about public, especially with the word NHI (National Health Insurance) and people not understanding that NHI is a fund and that we are looking at universal health coverage,' she said. Different speakers across the Sadc region and various provinces in the country tackled different topics about the nurses' profession and the challenges they have. De Klerk said the conference was more focused on universal health coverage. She said it was about showing people that public and private health nurses could work together — but first, they need to understand each other. 'Sometimes we need to ask a question, not just to get a response, but to get that understanding. Because when you understand, whether it's culture, e nvironment or even the health ecosystem, it touches your mind, it touches your heart to have a look at the magnitude of the public sector and why the public sector also needs that support,' she said. According to her, they are using the conference to look at the best practices, and both public and private practitioners were combining ideas on how best nurses can work together during the NHI implementation. 'What can we do collectively to move forward? Because, you know, there's a proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. 'We want to go far; we want the system to find a way to work. Yes, we know that there are issues, whether it is staffing, whether it is resources, but somewhere we have to begin,' she said.
Zawya
04-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Africa: How to escape the trap of curative consumption for health production?
Africa stands at a pivotal moment in its health journey. While challenges such as shifting global priorities and reduced donor support are significant, the more pressing issue lies within the very foundation of our health systems. At the heart of the problem is a structural design that focuses more on responding to illness than on keeping people healthy. With a population of over 1.4 billion — and expected to represent one in five people globally in the near future — the continent finds itself caught in a troubling paradox. Even as we make strides in managing infectious diseases, many African health systems remain under-resourced, stretched thin, and heavily reliant on curative care. The emphasis continues to be on costly, hospital-based treatments rather than on prevention, health education, and community-based approaches that could ease the burden of disease and improve overall well-being. This model is neither sustainable nor equitable, and it keeps us locked in what I call the 'curative consumption trap.' It drains our already limited resources, perpetuates inequities, and undermines our vision for universal health coverage (UHC). It's time to shift from a reactive, hospital-centric model to one that invests in health production — resilient, community-driven, people-centred systems that prevent disease, empower people, and build a healthier future for all Africans. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that high-income countries spend around $4,000 per capita on healthcare, mostly through public financing. In sub-Saharan Africa, that figure is closer to $40, and that's assuming countries meet the aspirational goal of allocating 15 percent of national budgets to health. Most do not. Can Africa afford healthcare as currently structured? The answer is clearly no. This consumption-based model has colonial roots built for the rich who came to Africa and needed a health system that reflected their needs as they were used to back in their home countries and reinforced by political incentives that favour short-term infrastructure projects over long-term people-centred reforms. During the recent Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2025 in Kigali, it was evident that many African health systems still focus on treating disease rather than preventing it — a legacy that must be urgently overcome. The curative consumption trap: A vicious cycleHospitals and clinics often serve as the epicentre of care, with resources skewed toward expensive, tertiary-level interventions that politicians prioritise to appeal to voters. This curative bias is evident and at the expense of addressing preventative measures needed to reduce the disease burden, such as the rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. In 2019, NCDs accounted for 37 percent of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, up from 24 percent in 2000, and the burden is rising. Our systems are ill-equipped to manage this growing crisis. The curative consumption trap is fuelled by several factors. First, a post-colonial bias for infrastructure-heavy, specialist-led care over community-based approaches informed by the health needs of those who built the health systems. Second, a health workforce trained to treat illness, not promote wellness. In medical school, for instance, I recall spending just one lethargic month on community health attachment, compared to years learning about diagnosis, surgery, and pharmacology. This narrative is supported by political incentive as infrastructure is a politician vote driver and historical budgeting approaches prioritise infrastructure and equipment procurement. Third, a lack of trust in unfriendly distant supply-driven health systems leads people to seek care only when they are really sick, resulting in late diagnoses and high treatment costs. This isn't just a health issue, but a social and economic crisis. When systems focus on curing instead of preventing, they consume scarce financial and human resources while ignoring root causes such as unsafe water, poor sanitation, undernutrition, and the proliferation of unhealthy processed foods full of industrial trans fats and sweetened beverages. The result is high costs for health services with families pushed into poverty by catastrophic healthcare costs from out of pocket expenditure. The result is a vicious cycle where illness perpetuates poverty, and poverty perpetuates illness. Shifting the focus to health productionTo break this cycle, we need to embrace a model of health production: one that keeps people healthy, empowers communities, and addresses social determinants of health. It should be proactive, equitable, people-centred and sustainable, ensuring that every African has access to the tools and knowledge to live a healthy life, including reproductive health services for adolescents and women. This requires two major shifts. First, we must prioritise preventive and promotive health. Prevention is the cornerstone of health production. Evidence shows that primary healthcare, with a focus on primary care and prevention, community empowerment and engagement and multi-sectorial approaches improves health outcomes, enhances equity, and increases system efficiency. Yet, only 48 percent of Africans have access to primary healthcare services, leaving 615 million people without adequate services. To address this, we need to invest in community health systems including Community Health workers (CHWs), who are the backbone of primary healthcare. CHWs are often the first and only point of contact for underserved communities. They deliver preventive services such as vaccines, they educate communities on healthy practices, and detect early warning signs of disease, yet, many remain underpaid, undertrained, and disconnected from formal health systems. Governments need to commit to financing and integrating CHW programmes into national health systems, as outlined in the 2018 WHO guidelines— not as stopgaps, but as core pillars of national health strategy. Promotive health also means tackling the social determinants of health—poverty, education, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, and environmental factors. We also need policies that tackle risk factors. Taxing unhealthy products like industrial trans fats, tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages can reduce the burden of NCDs while generating revenue for health programmes. These funds can be channelled into community-led initiatives that promote clean water, sanitation, and nutrition, addressing the root causes of disease. Second, we need to empower communities as active participants in their health. Health systems cannot succeed without the trust and participation of the people they serve. Too often, African health systems are designed around institutions and diseases rather than people. Some have jokingly referred to our ministries of health as "ministries of disease" — a reflection of how disconnected the system can feel from lived realities. Communities — including youth, women, and marginalised groups — must have a seat at the decision-making table. Health policies should be co-designed and governed by those they are meant to serve. It's time to update the current WHO framework and recognise 'people' as the seventh building block of effective health systems, alongside service delivery, health workforce, information systems, health financing, access to medicines and health technologies, as well as leadership governance. Empowering communities also requires fostering accountability. Civil society-led mechanisms can hold governments, private sector and other partners accountable for delivering on UHC commitments, ensuring that policies align with the principles of social justice. By giving communities a stake in their health systems, we can build trust, encourage early health-seeking behaviour, and reduce the reliance on curative care. Moreover, African governments must address inefficiencies and corruption, optimising the use of limited resources. By embracing digital technology and artificial intelligence, we can improve health data systems, enhance service delivery, and target interventions more effectively noting technology must be deployed at the community level, not just in hospitals, to enhance equitable access, particularly at the last mile. A call to action: Building the health systems of the futureThe curative consumption trap is a legacy of colonial health systems and misaligned global priorities. It is not inevitable. Africa has the opportunity to redefine its health agenda, leveraging its youthful population, rich cultural heritage, and growing technological innovation. But this requires bold leadership and collective action. African governments should prioritise health in national budgets, recognising that health is not a cost but an investment in human capital for socioeconomic development. Donors and global health partners must shift their focus from short-term, disease-specific interventions to long-term health system strengthening in line with the Lusaka Agenda, an effort for all to prioritise strengthening health systems, promoting sustainable health financing and enhancing equity through national level co-ordination. As we approach 2030, the deadline for achieving UHC, we must decide: Do we continue down the path of reactive, costly care with limited returns or do we embrace a model that produces health, dignity, and opportunity for all?The curative trap may be the legacy we inherited, but health production is the legacy we must build. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
06-05-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Cabinet Secretary (CS) Duale Leads Consultative Meeting on Operationalizing Kenya National Public Health Institute
Cabinet Secretary for Health Hon. Aden Duale today convened a consultative meeting with technical heads at the Ministry of Health to discuss the operationalization of the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI). The KNPHI will be anchored on five strategic pillars: Surveillance and health security, Emergency preparedness and response, Laboratory strengthening ,Public health research and Public health workforce development. These pillars are designed to strengthen Kenya's public health system, promote equity, and enhance preparedness for infectious disease threats. CS Duale emphasized the need to build a responsive, people-centered health system that fosters trust and improves national health outcomes. 'The prosperity of any nation is measured by the health of its citizens,' he stated. He also underscored the importance of a transparent and factual flow of information, grounded in integrity and professionalism, especially as the Ministry moves forward with reforms to support the rollout of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Present at the meeting were Principal Secretaries Dr. Ouma Oluga (Medical Services) and Ms. Mary Muthoni (Public Health and Professional Standards), along with the Director General for Health, Dr. Patrick Amoth. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Health, Kenya.
