Nigeria: Health Care SystemNigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on October 1, 1960. It is comprised of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Nigeria is home to appro
Required Resource
Required Text
Lovett-Scott, M., & Prather, F. (2014). Global health systems: Comparing strategies for delivering health services. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chapter 14: The Healthcare System in Ghana
Multimedia
Nartey, S. (2013, June 24). Dying patients in search of basic healthcare in Ghana. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOk9kWTVU6c
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Textbook PowerPoint Presentations
Lovett-Scott, M., & Prather, F. (2014). Chapter 14: The Healthcare System in Ghana
. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Week Five Standard Guidance
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Within a few weeks of independence, the country was plagued with personal and ethnic rivalries. After many years of civil war and unrest, the DRC finally passed a new constitution on February 18, 2006, and elected its own government, which offered the first opportunity for a stable democracy. The new government has established the following goals to meet the needs of its citizens:
Reduce child mortality
Combat HIV/AIDS rate, malaria, and other infectious diseases
Improve maternal health
Reduce incidence of tuberculosis
The Democratic Republic of Congo has vast quantities of natural resources and the potential to provide financial stability through mining minerals (diamonds, copper, cobalt, and gold). However, the DRC is a severely indebted country with limited income due to years of war and mismanagement. Consequently, the Democratic Republic of Congo lacks the financial resources to fund the health care system at adequate levels.
Health Care System
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is a public health system based on the historical Belgian colonial public health system. The MOH is a policy and oversight organization comprised of subordinate organizations:
Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM)
Institute of Biomedical Research (Institut National de Recherché Biomédicale, or INRB)
Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH)
The KSPH trains physicians in public health and staffs the public health infrastructure composed of Health Zones. By 2001 the DRC reported there were three tertiary hospitals, eleven provincial hospitals, 306 general hospitals, and approximately 6,000 health centers across the country. Contrary to the common definition of tertiary hospital (a major hospital that provides a full complement of specialized services), a tertiary hospital in the DRC only provides rehabilitative care. While there are private hospitals and clinics in the DRC, they are reserved for individuals with the financial means to pay for services provided.
The health system of the Democratic Republic of Congo is funded from three sources: the state budget (i.e., taxes), external contributions (private and charitable contributions), and fee for service payments. According to a report by Doctors without Borders (2005), hospitalized patients often were responsible for their own medical supplies and prescription medication due to lack of supplies (p. 11). Approximately 2/3 of Congolese citizens are unable to afford medical care. The contributions of non-governmental organizations have been essential in the operation of the health system.
Access to health – Strengthening the Health System Together
This documentary on access to health care in the Democratic Republic of Congo features Malteser International, a non-governmental organization. Among other things, Malteser provides access to health care in poverty-stricken rural regions of DRC. This worldwide relief agency is an example of one of the many external, non-governmental organizations that are crucial to the current DRC health care system.
The video (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. provides a context described
Epidemiology
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) was one of the first African countries to recognize HIV, registering cases of HIV among hospital patients as early as 1983. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimated that 1.3 million Congolese (adult and children) were living with HIV/AIDS (Doctors without Borders, 2005). Malaria remains the primary cause of death with childhood diseases (measles, neonatal tetanus, and poliomyelitis) steadily rising.
References
Ichchannel. (2010, January 29). Chapter 04: Access to health - strengthening the health system together (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YshJ50gK-uU
Lovett-Scott, M., & Prather, F. (2014). Global health systems: Comparing strategies for delivering health services. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
