<\/p>\n
As Africa strives to recover from the deepfelt impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities and experts gathering this week for the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa launched a new drive to find ways of revamping the region\u2019s health systems.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
At a special event on Rethinking and rebuilding resilient health systems in Africa during the 22 \u2013 26 August Regional Committee meeting in Lom\u00e9, Togo, delegates examined the measures that have worked in achieving universal access to health care as well as the shortfalls. They also explored ways to maintain essential services during outbreaks and the investments and actions needed to ensure equitable access to quality medical products and health technologies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scope and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic put great pressure on Senegal\u2019s health system,\u201d said Dr Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye, Senegal\u2019s Minister of Health. But \u201cthanks to (its) Resilience Programme and Investment Plan, Senegal\u2019s health system has considerably strengthened disease prevention and management capacities.\u201d<\/p>\n
COVID-19 has not only exerted enormous pressure on health systems but also sounded the alarm on the need to reform and revitalize the continent\u2019s health systems. Even as countries stepped up measures including surveillance, prevention, clinical care and vaccination in the wake of the pandemic, further efforts are essential to render the health systems more robust and resilient.<\/p>\n
The pandemic has also added to the African region\u2019s existing health challenges. More than any other part of the world, the region responds to more than 100 health emergencies every year. During emergencies many countries face shutdowns of health programmes due to staff reassignments, supply chain disruptions as well as movement restrictions. These disruptions undermine progress towards universal health coverage and lay bare inequities in access to health care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fragility of our continent\u2019s health infrastructure and the urgent need to strengthen the overall health system to secure access to quality care for all Africa\u2019s people, when and where they need it, without incurring financial hardship,\u201d said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director to Africa. \u201cDomestic investment in health, including health research, has significant economic returns, while promoting resilience and sustainability; healthy populations translate to healthy economies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the disruptions due to outbreaks and other challenges, African countries have made progress in improving access to health services. For example, the number of countries scoring over 40% (\u201cmedium coverage\u201d) on the universal health coverage index has increased from three out of 47 countries to 35 between 2000 and 2019.<\/p>\n
The special event launched at the Regional Committee kicks off a collective process to support African countries as they ramp up efforts to recover from the pandemic-triggered disruptions and work to rebuild better their health systems. A series of consultations and actions will follow to support countries in achieving universal health coverage and health security.<\/p>\n
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.<\/i><\/p>\n
Source<\/a> As Africa strives to recover from the deepfelt impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities and experts gathering this week for the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa launched a new drive to find ways of revamping the region\u2019s health systems. At a special event on Rethinking and rebuilding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1662946206_546_418.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8377],"tags":[258,256,6287,4696,4554,8378,8379,8381,32926,5731,257,33287,254,7232,12606,11999,8380],"class_list":["post-91373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-congo","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-africas","tag-central-africa","tag-congo","tag-congo-news","tag-congo-republic","tag-congo-brazzaville","tag-covid19","tag-health","tag-news","tag-pandemic","tag-south-africa-today","tag-system","tag-transforming","tag-wake","tag-west-congo"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1662946206_546_418.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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South Africa Today Africa \u2013 Central Africa Congo<\/a> News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"