#almaata

Health care is an investment and one the best investments you can make, said Gaye today at the third annual African Health Business Symposium in Johannesburg. The African continent is healthier than it was just years ago, he said, but as we acknowledge the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata on primary health care, we must also acknowledge that it’s not acceptable to take 50 years to simply get where we already are today.

If you are still wringing your hands over whether the private and public sectors should work together to achieve universal health coverage or whether they can trust each other, he said, the train has left the building.

We can’t think of health care as just an expenditure or cost. Poor-quality health systems result in more than 9 million deaths annually in low- and middle-income countries, amounting to economic welfare losses of $6 trillion.

He shared that 91% of health employment potential exists in lower-middle and low-income countries in Africa and Asia, where jobs would boost inclusive economic growth and contribute to achieving full employment. And each new job in the health sector can result in 2.3 additional new jobs in non-health occupations within the broader community, according to the ILO.

Private sector collaborations in the health sector can lead to both improved public health and improved economic conditions.

He went on to share two examples of successful public-private collaborations:

The Afya Elimu Fund in Kenya is a mechanism that offers students low-interest loans to complete their health training programs.

Better Hearts Better Cities is an initiative of the Novartis Foundation led by IntraHealth in Dakar, Senegal. It works with the public and private sectors to improve access to prevention and treatment services for hypertension.

Gaye was speaking as part of a panel with Freddy Kgongwana, CEO of the Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital; Dr. Sanele Madela, Founder and CEO of Expectra Health Solution; Dr. Kate Tulenko, CEO of Corvus Health; and Dr. Ademola Olajide, resident representative, UNFPA Kenya.