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PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICAN

Authors:
Reshma Fatteh at Avalon University school of medicine, curacao
Reshma Fatteh
  • Avalon University school of medicine, curacao
Abdiwali Keynan at Avalon University School of Medicine
Abdiwali Keynan
  • Avalon University School of Medicine
Tarig Fadlallah Altahir Ahmed at Avalon University School of Medicine
Tarig Fadlallah Altahir Ahmed
  • Avalon University School of Medicine
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Abstract

It is stated that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest mortality rates, and it is the only continent where deaths from infectious disease still outnumber deaths from chronic disease (1). The people of Africa are often unable to get the care they need because of either lack of health care options in their area or because they are unable to afford proper health care. Public health in Africa is very important, to stop the spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them (1). Also, the right to health is a universal human right which underpins the continuous call for universal health care. This call is ever more so in developing countries where there is limited access to basic health care. The best and most important way to improve public health in Africa is prevention. Many believe that the best way to reduce the prevalence of a disease is to first find a way to prevent further incidence of the disease. In order to provide effectively improve public health in Africa, health programs should not only focus on providing treatment, but also educating the people of the importance of public health. It is also important that the information being provided to these people are accurate (2).
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijcmes2018.08020040
*Corresponding author: TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
Available online at http://journalijcmes.com
ISSN: 2320- 8147
PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICAN
TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed., Michael Ebisi., Chimaobi Nwaizugbu., Reshma Fateh.,
SpiroCuris and Abdiwali Keynan
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article History:
xxxx
It is stated that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest mortality rates,
and it is the only continent where deaths from infectious disease still outnumber
deaths from chronic disease (1). The people of Africa are often unable to get the
care they need because of either lack of health care options in their area or
because they are unable to afford proper health care. Public health in Africa is
very important, to stop the spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them
(1). Also, the right to health is a universal human right which underpins the
continuous call for universal health care. This call is ever more so in developing
countries where there is limited access to basic health care. The best and most
important way to improve public health in Africa is prevention. Many believe
that the best way to reduce the prevalence of a disease is to first find a way to
prevent further incidence of the disease. In order to provide effectively improve
public health in Africa, health programs should not only focus on providing
treatment, but also educating the people of the importance of public health. It is
also important that the information being provided to these people are accurate
(2).
Key words:
African Health, Public Health and Africa,
African Communities Health, African Diseases,
African Health Care
INTRODUCTION
Africa has always been one of, if not the world’s poorest
country and this will not change anytime soon. It is stated
that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest
mortality rates, and it is the only continent where deaths
from infectious disease still outnumber deaths from
chronic disease (2). The people of Africa are often unable
to get the care they need because of either lack of health
care options in their area or because they are unable to
afford proper health care.
Public health in Africa is very important, to stop the
spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them. Also,
the right to health is a universal human right which
underpins the continuous call for universal health care.
This call is ever more so in developing countries where
there is limited access to basic health care (2). There are
many infectious diseases that plague Africa today, but the
big three are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. While
two of the big three have a cure, they are still a very big
concern for the people of Africa; if the people were
educated and provided the appropriate care they can
greatly reduce the number of people infected with these
diseases and prevent it from spreading further into other
areas of Africa or outside of the continent (3).
Public health concern in Africa is based on how to
promote the quality health care system and help the under
deserve area in promoting standard health policy that will
fight the affecting microorganism within the area and
promote awareness in preventing measures. The other
Concern is to tackle both communicable and
incommunicable disease thereby creating a supportive
method, availability, and accessibility of drugs and care
need for the communities. They also have priority of
building and improving hospital within the communities,
accesses to the good water system, fighting hunger,
increase child immunization, access to prenatal care and
prevent and treat HIV/AIDS (3).
The World Health Organization(WHO) with the help of
many developed countries tackles these concerns by
building public health centers that are accessible and
available for the under deserve countries. Ones example of
this would be the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief(PEPFAR), this program focus was to contain and
provide treatment to the people of Africa who were
infected with AIDS (3). WHO also builds public health
school as a medium to educate and promote preventive
measures, helping them to under the importance of
maintaining and promoting a healthy environment,
improving their knowledge on methods of effective
prevention, managing and control of an existing diseases
International Journal of Current Medical Sciences- Vol. 8, Issue, 2(A), pp. xxxx, xxx, 2018
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT MEDICAL SCIENCES
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Copyright © TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed. et al 2018,This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijcmes2018.08020040
*Corresponding author: TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
Available online at http://journalijcmes.com
ISSN: 2320- 8147
PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICAN
TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed., Michael Ebisi., Chimaobi Nwaizugbu., Reshma Fateh.,
SpiroCuris and Abdiwali Keynan
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
A B S T R A C T
It is stated that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest mortality rates,
and it is the only continent where deaths from infectious disease still outnumber
deaths from chronic disease (1). The people of Africa are often unable to get the
care they need because of either lack of health care options in their area or
because they are unable to afford proper health care. Public health in Africa is
very important, to stop the spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them
(1). Also, the right to health is a universal human right which underpins the
continuous call for universal health care. This call is ever more so in developing
countries where there is limited access to basic health care. The best and most
important way to improve public health in Africa is prevention. Many believe
that the best way to reduce the prevalence of a disease is to first find a way to
prevent further incidence of the disease. In order to provide effectively improve
public health in Africa, health programs should not only focus on providing
treatment, but also educating the people of the importance of public health. It is
also important that the information being provided to these people are accurate
(2).
INTRODUCTION
Africa has always been one of, if not the world’s poorest
country and this will not change anytime soon. It is stated
that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest
mortality rates, and it is the only continent where deaths
from infectious disease still outnumber deaths from
chronic disease (2). The people of Africa are often unable
to get the care they need because of either lack of health
care options in their area or because they are unable to
afford proper health care.
Public health in Africa is very important, to stop the
spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them. Also,
the right to health is a universal human right which
underpins the continuous call for universal health care.
This call is ever more so in developing countries where
there is limited access to basic health care (2). There are
many infectious diseases that plague Africa today, but the
big three are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. While
two of the big three have a cure, they are still a very big
concern for the people of Africa; if the people were
educated and provided the appropriate care they can
greatly reduce the number of people infected with these
diseases and prevent it from spreading further into other
areas of Africa or outside of the continent (3).
Public health concern in Africa is based on how to
promote the quality health care system and help the under
deserve area in promoting standard health policy that will
fight the affecting microorganism within the area and
promote awareness in preventing measures. The other
Concern is to tackle both communicable and
incommunicable disease thereby creating a supportive
method, availability, and accessibility of drugs and care
need for the communities. They also have priority of
building and improving hospital within the communities,
accesses to the good water system, fighting hunger,
increase child immunization, access to prenatal care and
prevent and treat HIV/AIDS (3).
The World Health Organization(WHO) with the help of
many developed countries tackles these concerns by
building public health centers that are accessible and
available for the under deserve countries. Ones example of
this would be the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief(PEPFAR), this program focus was to contain and
provide treatment to the people of Africa who were
infected with AIDS (3). WHO also builds public health
school as a medium to educate and promote preventive
measures, helping them to under the importance of
maintaining and promoting a healthy environment,
improving their knowledge on methods of effective
prevention, managing and control of an existing diseases
International Journal of Current Medical Sciences- Vol. 8, Issue, 2(A), pp. xxxx, xxx, 2018
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT MEDICAL SCIENCES
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Copyright © TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed. et al 2018,This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijcmes2018.08020040
*Corresponding author: TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
Available online at http://journalijcmes.com
ISSN: 2320- 8147
PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICAN
TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed., Michael Ebisi., Chimaobi Nwaizugbu., Reshma Fateh.,
SpiroCuris and Abdiwali Keynan
Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Netherland Antilles, Curacao
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article History:
xxxx
It is stated that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest mortality rates,
and it is the only continent where deaths from infectious disease still outnumber
deaths from chronic disease (1). The people of Africa are often unable to get the
care they need because of either lack of health care options in their area or
because they are unable to afford proper health care. Public health in Africa is
very important, to stop the spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them
(1). Also, the right to health is a universal human right which underpins the
continuous call for universal health care. This call is ever more so in developing
countries where there is limited access to basic health care. The best and most
important way to improve public health in Africa is prevention. Many believe
that the best way to reduce the prevalence of a disease is to first find a way to
prevent further incidence of the disease. In order to provide effectively improve
public health in Africa, health programs should not only focus on providing
treatment, but also educating the people of the importance of public health. It is
also important that the information being provided to these people are accurate
(2).
Key words:
African Health, Public Health and Africa,
African Communities Health, African Diseases,
African Health Care
INTRODUCTION
Africa has always been one of, if not the world’s poorest
country and this will not change anytime soon. It is stated
that Africa is the continent with the world’s highest
mortality rates, and it is the only continent where deaths
from infectious disease still outnumber deaths from
chronic disease (2). The people of Africa are often unable
to get the care they need because of either lack of health
care options in their area or because they are unable to
afford proper health care.
Public health in Africa is very important, to stop the
spread of infectious diseases and to eradicate them. Also,
the right to health is a universal human right which
underpins the continuous call for universal health care.
This call is ever more so in developing countries where
there is limited access to basic health care (2). There are
many infectious diseases that plague Africa today, but the
big three are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. While
two of the big three have a cure, they are still a very big
concern for the people of Africa; if the people were
educated and provided the appropriate care they can
greatly reduce the number of people infected with these
diseases and prevent it from spreading further into other
areas of Africa or outside of the continent (3).
Public health concern in Africa is based on how to
promote the quality health care system and help the under
deserve area in promoting standard health policy that will
fight the affecting microorganism within the area and
promote awareness in preventing measures. The other
Concern is to tackle both communicable and
incommunicable disease thereby creating a supportive
method, availability, and accessibility of drugs and care
need for the communities. They also have priority of
building and improving hospital within the communities,
accesses to the good water system, fighting hunger,
increase child immunization, access to prenatal care and
prevent and treat HIV/AIDS (3).
The World Health Organization(WHO) with the help of
many developed countries tackles these concerns by
building public health centers that are accessible and
available for the under deserve countries. Ones example of
this would be the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief(PEPFAR), this program focus was to contain and
provide treatment to the people of Africa who were
infected with AIDS (3). WHO also builds public health
school as a medium to educate and promote preventive
measures, helping them to under the importance of
maintaining and promoting a healthy environment,
improving their knowledge on methods of effective
prevention, managing and control of an existing diseases
International Journal of Current Medical Sciences- Vol. 8, Issue, 2(A), pp. xxxx, xxx, 2018
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT MEDICAL SCIENCES
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Copyright © TarigFadlallahAltahir Ahmed. et al 2018,This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
International Journal of Current Medical Sciences- Vol 8, Issue, 2(A), pp. xxxx, xxxx, 2018
393 | P a g e
and creating awareness of any further outbreak disease
(3). The best method to effectively improve public health
in any area is prevention. Providing treatment and care for
every infected individual to improve the current state of
Africa is commendable, but not ideal. These programs will
be a lot more effective in improving the future state of
Africa by focusing on more preventative methods. Studies
have revealed that public health policies and programs
would be more effective should they not only focus on
caring for diseases like malaria and AIDS, but rather focus
on educating the people to prevent future infections (4). It
is important that current and future public health programs
work closely with not just the government, but also
community health workers who understand the importance
of prevent and can communicate to the community in their
native language in a way that they will be able to
understand (4)
DISCUSSION
Access to public health should be not only be available to
developed nations, but for all nations. The U.S. along with
WHO and other developed countries has made an effort to
build hospitals and health centers in Africa to promote
public health, but it is not enough. These efforts should be
more focused in communities that are in dire need of
treatments for any disease or condition (4). There was a
study that investigated the diagnostics of Chronic Kidney
Diseases (CKD) in Africa. The results show that while
CKD is a growing problem in Africa, people were not
going to the hospital to be diagnosed or treated even
though there were programs developed to treat individuals
with CKD. A key factor that led to people not being
treated was transportation. There were individuals either
had no method of transportation to get to the hospital or
the commute to the hospital was too far. WHO along with
other developed nations need to not only focus on
providing treatment, but also make sure it is accessible to
multiple communities (5).
In order to provide effectively improve public health in
Africa, health programs should not only focus on
providing treatment, but also educating the people of the
importance of public health. It is also important that the
information being provided to these people are accurate.
In a study conducted in Tanzania, it was revealed that the
reason why the people in this community do not use
contraceptive methods when practicing sex is due to
misinformation (6). The males in this community
believed that the use of any contraceptives will result in
them no longer being able to have children. Because this
community is male dominated, it forced the females to
abstain from contraceptives as well. While it is true that
some contraceptive methods prevent an individual from
having children in the future, there are plenty of safe
contraceptive methods that will not affect their fertility in
the future. These people were misinformed about
contraceptives and abstained from using it, which led to
these people being more susceptible to sexual transmitted
diseases and unwanted pregnancy. When designing a
program to help the people of Africa, it is important to
also find a way to educate these people to stop the spread
of disease (6). The best and most important way to
improve public health in Africa is prevention. Many
believe that the best way to reduce the prevalence of a
disease is to first find a way to prevent further incidence
of the disease. A studied conducted in Nigeria showed the
young unmarried Nigeria women around the ages of 15-24
was not using protection during their first and future
encounters (7). The results of this study indicated that this
was a huge contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS in
Nigeria. The authors believe that in order to reduce the
spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria that we should focus on
preventing further infections by educating the young
women of Nigeria. Many of the women were aware about
HIV/AIDS, but they did not know how it is transmitted or
how to prevent transmission. These women (especially
those on the lower end of social status) also had limited
access on contraceptives like male condoms to prevent
transmission of not only HIV/AIDS, but also other STDs.
It is importance to focus not only on the treatment aspect
of a disease, but also how to prevent further incidences.
These women were aware of the disease and in some cases
where to find treatment for them, but not how to prevent
transmission; because of this the prevalence of HIV/AIDS
in Nigeria is still a problem today (7).
CONCLUSION
Every Human being is born with a universal right to
public health. This right should not be limited or denied
because of where a person born or because of their
financial status. It is the duty of WHO and other
developed nations to share their resources and knowledge
to promote public health in Africa. It is important that we
fulfil our duties, so that we can stop the disease from
spreading to multiple areas and prevent future infections.
Prevention is the most important aspect of a disease and in
order to increase prevention, we should focus on
educating the people of how certain diseases are
transmitted and how to prevent transmission. It is possible
to improve public health in Africa, but the efforts have to
focus in the right areas and on the right problems.
Conflict of Interest: None
Acknowledgement: Avalon University School of
Medicine
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International Journal of Current Medical Sciences- Vol 8, Issue, 2(A), pp. xxxx, xxxx, 2018
394 | P a g e
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Chronic Kidney Disease in Nigeria: An Evaluation of the Spatial Accessibility to Healthcare for Diagnosed Cases in Edo State
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2016
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing problem in Nigeria, presenting challenges to the nation’s health and economy. This study evaluates the accessibility to healthcare in Edo State of CKD patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2009. Using cost analysis techniques within a geographical information system, an estimated travel time to the hospital was used to examine the spatial accessibility of diagnosed patients to available CKD healthcare in the state. The results from the study indicated that although there was an annual rise in the number of diagnosed cases, there were no significant changes in the proportion of patients that were diagnosed at the last stage of CKD. However, there were indications that the travel time to the hospital for CKD treatment might be a contributing factor to the number of diagnosed CKD cases. This implies that the current structure for CKD management within the state might not be adequate.
View
Factors associated with HIV/AIDS sexual risk among young women aged 15-24 years in Nigeria
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2012
The growing rate of sexual risk-taking among young people contributes significantly to the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. This study, explores the influence of socio-demographic, HIV/AIDS awareness and female empowerment on the sexual risk behaviors of unmarried Nigerian women aged 15-24. The data presented in this paper was drawn from the 2003 Nigeria National Demographic and Health Survey. The sample consisted of unmarried women aged 15-24 in the dataset. Data was collected through a structured and interviewer administered questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the most important predictors of sexual risk behaviors. Sexual risk-taking is relatively high among unmarried young women. Among those who are sexually active, 80% indicated that they did not use a condom during their first sexual encounter. Regression analysis revealed that younger age, lower HIV/AIDS prevention and transmission knowledge, lower knowledge of where to obtain condoms, lower material standard of living and greater intimate partner violence were significantly associated with sexual risk-taking in this population. Findings revealed that the sexual behavior of unmarried Nigerian women aged 15-24 is influenced by a complex matrix of factors. Identifying specific processes and contexts that promote the concentration of risk among sub-sections of young unmarried women aged 15-24 years in Nigeria should be a research and intervention priority.
View
An evaluation of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS on selected economies of sub-Saharan Africa
Article
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Human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) whose full-blown period is called acquired immunity deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is today a terminal disease. While one weakens the body hormones, the other comes to claim the life with its accompanying opportunistic diseases. Several factors have been reviewed to be causing the infection and its prevalence as well as its socio-economic, scientific and cultural dimensions. The cost implication of this ailment is enormous when considered from individual, national or global perspective, especially when the cost of treatment and the cost of the disability adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to incapacitation from HIV/AIDS is considered. This study has investigated the financial implications of treatment and the DALYs lost to HIV/AIDS from the perspective of sub-Saharan Africa covering thirty-five countries. Infected population of age 15-49 years were considered, being the active life year age group. Applying Morrow’s DALYs measurement, and Ainsworth’s per capita general rule method of costing HIV/AIDS, it was found that the cost of treatment of HIV/AIDS in any country depends on her economic strength on the one hand and the size of the infected population on the other, to the extent that no country spends or loses less than 3 percent of her national income on treatment and to DALYs. To any country, the financial cost of the DALYs lost to HIV/AIDS is much more than the cost of treatment per episode, mostly huge enough to develop a sector of the country’s economy. However, a single recommendation could be difficult as individual countries experience different effect, but different countries must pursue long-run anti-prevalence policies individually and as economic region or bloc.
View
Gender norms and family planning decision-making in Tanzania: A qualitative study
Article
Full-text available
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Experience suggests that the incorporation of gender approaches into family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) programs may increase their impact and sustainability, but further work is needed to examine the interactions between gender norms and family planning and to incorporate this understand-ing into behavior change communication (BCC) in specific social contexts. We conduct-ed open-ended, in-depth interviews with 30 young currently married men, 30 young mar-ried women and 12 older people who influ-enced FP decisions. Six focus group interviews were also conducted. The interviews focused on the role of gender norms in reproductive decision-making and contraceptive use among young married men and women in Tanzania. The findings suggest that gender factors, such as men's dominance in decision-making do function as barriers to the use of modern con-traceptives, but that fear of side effects, by both men and women, may be even more important deterrents. Results from this research will inform the development of BCC interventions to be tested in a subsequent intervention study in which gender factors and poor information about contraceptive methods will be addressed.
View
Primary Health Care: A Necessity in Developing Countries?
Article
Full-text available
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Resource limited countries continue to be plagued with rising prevalence of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS as well as other emerg-ing diseases despite the huge financial sup-port provided by bilateral and multilateral agencies to combat these diseases. While progress may have been made in reducing the global burden caused by these diseases on one hand, there has also been a weakening of the primary health care facility on the other hand which was the hallmark to the Alma Ata decla-ration of 1978. More attention has been placed on our global health needs while the diverse health needs of every community have been neglected. This fatal neglect at the community level highlights the need for the provision of specialize primary health care (PHC) facilities which should not only be affordable, accessible and available, but be appropriate to the priority health needs of the community, especially at the rural level. Hence specialized PHC facili-ties will be tailored to meet the most pressing health needs of the communities it covers among other diseases. Consequently, this innovative approach will not only strengthen the primary health care system by improving wellbeing especially at the rural level but will also improve the outcome of vertical program at communities where it is most needed.
View
Public Health in Africa - A Report of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center
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Full-text available
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Public Health in Africa - A Report of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center
View
People In Sub-Saharan Africa Rate Their Health And Health Care Among The Lowest In The World
Article
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The health of people in sub-Saharan Africa is a major global concern. However, data are weak, and little is known about how people in the region perceive their health or their health care. We used data from the Gallup World Poll in 2012 to document sub-Saharan Africans' perceived health status, their satisfaction with health care, their contact with medical professionals, and the priority they attach to health care. In comparison to other regions of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest ratings for well-being and the lowest satisfaction with health care. It also has the second-lowest perception of personal health, after only the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. HIV prevalence is positively correlated with perceived improvements in health care in countries with high prevalence. This is consistent with an improvement in at least some health care services as a result of the largely aid-funded rollout of antiretroviral treatment. Even so, sub-Saharan Africans do not prioritize health care as a matter of policy, although donors are increasingly shifting their aid efforts in the region toward health. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
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Sidney R. Schuler, Elisabeth Rottach, PeninahMukiri, Gender norms and family planning decision-making in Tanzania: a qualitative study
  • Jan 2005
  • Osaretin Oviasu
  • Janette E Rigby
  • Dimitris Ballas
Osaretin Oviasu, Janette E. Rigby, Dimitris Ballas, Chronic kidney disease in Nigeria: an evaluation of the spatial accessibility to healthcare for diagnosed cases in Edo state, 2015 Mar. 31; Vol. 6 No 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2015.394 6. Sidney R. Schuler, Elisabeth Rottach, PeninahMukiri, Gender norms and family planning decision-making in Tanzania: a qualitative study, 2011 Sept. 5;