The event to be attended by ministers responsible for health in Africa, advocates, implementers and partners from various countries is scheduled to take place in Praia, Cape Verde from 26-28 March 2019.

WHO has stepped up the initiative further by developing a flagship programme providing integrated and holistic support to countries through implementation support, a regional learning programme for universal health care.

According to the statement issued by the WHO Regional Officer for Africa, the aim of the conference is to explore Africa’s healthcare priorities and challenges as well as to find new ways to achieve better health for all. Most importantly, the forum is expected to take stock of the Call-to-Action Proposal that was adopted at the first Africa health forum held in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2017.

“The WHO Africa Health Forum organising team takes this opportunity to call on partners to let us know what they have been doing in view to the Call-to-Action on universal health coverage,” the statement reads. Through the “Call-to-Action” strategy, African governments, under the United Nations, have committed to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The main objective of UHC is to ensure that everyone, everywhere can access essential quality health services without facing financial hardship. In 2017, about half of the world’s population still did not have full coverage of essential health services and close to 100 million people are still being pushed into “extreme poverty” because they have to pay for health care.

WHO further noted that over 800 million people (almost 12% of the world’s population) spent at least 10% of household budgets to pay for health care. Namibia and Zambia are among countries in southern Africa that have made significant progress towards achieving UHC. In Namibia, over 1.7 million people do not have access to quality health care, which is attributed to the high cost of private health care and also the problem of the quality of public health care.

Official statistics also indicate that about 12% of the working class spend 15% of their income on health care services. Achieving UHC is one of the targets the nations of the world set when adopting the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and it is hoped that countries that progress towards achieving UHC will make progress towards achieving the other health-related targets, and towards the other goals.

Good health allows children to learn and adults to earn, helps people escape from poverty, and provides the basis for long-term economic development. According to WHO, many countries are already making progress towards achieving UHC and encouraged all countries to move faster towards meeting the goal, or to maintain the gains they have already made.

In countries where health services have traditionally been accessible and affordable, governments are finding it increasingly difficult to respond to the ever-growing health needs of the populations and the increasing costs of health services, the UN body said. “Moving towards UHC requires strengthening health systems in all countries. Robust financing structures are key. When people have to pay most of the cost for health services out of their own pockets, the poor are often unable to obtain many of the services they need, and even the rich may be exposed to financial hardship in the event of severe or long-term illness. Pooling funds from compulsory funding sources (such as mandatory insurance contributions) can spread the financial risks of illness across a population,” WHO explained in a statement.

Improving health service coverage and health outcomes depends on the availability, accessibility, and capacity of health workers to deliver quality people-centred integrated care. Investments in quality primary health care will be the cornerstone for achieving UHC around the world. Investing in the primary health care workforce is the most cost-effective way to ensure access to essential health care will improve. Good governance, sound systems of procurement and supply of medicines and health technologies and well-functioning health information systems are other critical elements.