The Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA) is a group that aims to improve the health equity of the world’s poor by connecting organizations to Washington’s global health sector. WGHA’s impact on health equity happens through the creation of these connections through the development of strategic relationships, hosting assemblies and communicating effectively. In all, WGHA unites 14,000 employees and 268 Washington-based small businesses, nonprofits and research institutes, which contribute $9 billion to the state’s economy. Moreover, while the alliance works mostly behind-the-scenes as a convener, the organization also creates public opportunities for other groups to meet and discuss important issues ranging from women in the global health sector to antimicrobial resistance to global health educator workshops.
Creating WGHA
The alliance established in Seattle, WA after a recognition that Seattle had grown into a global health powerhouse. At the time, there was not a platform in existence to allow connection between those in the global health sector.
In 2008, WGHA’s founders reached out to entities like the Washington governor, leaders of global health organizations and the University of Washington with an idea. The founders pitched that the region should focus on advancing health on a global level through a connective platform.
In an interview with The Borgen Project, the current President of WGHA, Dena Morris, said that WGHA emphasizes this belief with the question of “How can we do more together?” Further, Morris said that the organization believes the diversity in the connections it makes will allow it to foster new ideas with speedy information delivery and higher creativity flow.
With that question and those beliefs in mind, six members eventually formed WGHA with the support of various organizations including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PATH, University of Washington, Washington State University, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. From there, WGHA’s impact on health equity grew rapidly and the organization now has over 200 allies.
Past Successes
In 2012, WGHA, Puget Sound Regional Council and Life Science Washington created the Global Health Nexus, a public exhibit and student competition focused on educating the community on global health. Three-hundred volunteers from Seattle and surrounding areas came together to build a platform that enhanced the ability to collaborate and take action regarding global health issues.
During the Ebola crisis of 2015, WGHA assembled more than 50 leaders from NGOs, research institutes, the private sector and various governments. This massive effort allowed the sharing of vital information with the CDC’s Ebola response team.
In 2011, WGHA created the Washington Global Health fund, which received $1.2 million from the Washington state legislature. The goal of the fund was to harness new health technologies and create more medical focused jobs throughout the state.
WGHA Meetings and Events
WGHA had seven planned events for April 2020 alone. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, it has either postponed its events or chosen to host them virtually. Morris told The Borgen Project that she believes that it is more crucial than ever to continue to provide conventions in the face of the pandemic. Specifically, the organization is “working to identify the optimal virtual platforms” to support these events.
The Women in Global Health Seattle Q1 Meeting (WGH Seattle) is one of the March events that the organization has postponed. Morris specifically mentioned this event as apart of the Women in Global Health movement, which is a movement that aims to create a distinct path towards leadership positions for women in the global health sector. The Q1 Meeting will likely happen on June 11th as an open event to the public. “That’s open to the broader community, and the more diversity we have in that room, the better off we are,” Morris says.
WGH Seattle consists of professional women working in global health within the Seattle area. This organization recognizes that leadership in the global health sector would become more innovative if there was an increase in diversity and improved gender-balance. These efforts aim to achieve specific developmental goals. For example, 75 percent of the global health workforce includes women but only 25 percent of global health leadership consists of women, according to Morris. She also stated that “when women are a part of the policy-making process, [the world will] end up with better outcomes for health, and economy and education, so entire communities are better served.”
WGHA’s Projects
Another current project of WGHA is the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Global (STEM Global), which “prepares the next generation of global health researchers, practitioners and champions.” STEM Global attempts to build a bridge between students who typically receive underrepresentation in the STEM field. Additionally, the project aims to connect those underrepresented individuals to global health jobs. STEM Global and WGHA also assists educators to better understand global health careers and how students can effectively navigate the path to such careers.
Additionally, the Next Generation of Leaders in Africa is a remarkable initiative of WGHA. The program emerged in April 2019 when WGHA gathered 45 representatives from 26 of the allied organizations and discussed the need for specific improvements. The group conferred and agreed on two things: there is a need for an increase in African voices in the conversations and there is a need to create an infrastructure in which emerging leaders can succeed.
WGHA’s goals for this project are vast and specific, which provide precise measurement of achievements. One goal includes the implementation of training for doctoral researchers in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya to ensure control for local leaders over the specific diseases and ailments that affect communities. Other goals are to provide training to eye bank technicians and ophthalmic surgeons in Ethiopia to ensure local development of eye banks and conduction of eye transplants, and to develop vaccine production in South Africa to ensure that vaccines will reach the appropriate individuals with minimal financial burden and improvements in local infrastructure with supply chain expertise in Mozambique and labs in Kenya.
Morris shared that global health is not simply about people from developed nations providing a poverty-stricken country with temporary fixes. Improving the state of global health is about building a strong infrastructure to allow emerging health leaders to succeed in long-term development and improvements of public health. WGHA’s impact on health equity is profound and growing by consistently providing opportunities to communicate within the global health sector.
– Marlee Septak
Photo: Unsplash
Improving ENT Care in Zimbabwe
Challenges in ENT and Audiology Care in Zimbabwe
According to a survey of 22 Sub-Saharan countries in Africa, it has been observed that there has been an overall lack of progress in ENT and audiology care between 2009 and 2015. Although there has been an increase in ENT surgeons by 43 percent and audiologists by 2.5 percent, these numbers cannot adequately serve the 23 percent population growth that occurred during that time. Since 2015, there has been a steady decline in ENT physicians and audiologists in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, U.K. respondents have noted that there is a lack of proper medical equipment for ENT care, training facilities and audiological rehabilitation.
Importance of ENT Care in Zimbabwe
With the lack of ENT care available in African countries, physicians wondered how they can also provide social support to patients that have suffered hearing loss, speech impediments and other traumas relating to ENT illnesses. Dzongodzaand Chidziva, an ENT surgeon who works in Zimbabwe, has explained that many Zimbabweans believe that a runny nose or snoring are minor issues. However, those same symptoms could be the precursor for devastating illnesses.
To demonstrate the dangers of these misconceptions, Chidziva found that a common issue among patients he treated was respiratory papillomatosis, caused by the papilloma virus, otherwise known as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The illness causes growths to build up in the upper respiratory tract, constricting breathing and damaging vocal cords. If left untreated, it is life-threatening, especially for young children. Invasive care and surgery has to be taken immediately in order to dislodge warts. It is illnesses like these that make adequate and proper ENT care paramount.
Improvements to ENT Care in Zimbabwe
Despite setbacks and social misconceptions in the field, improvements are underway to bring proper ENT care in Zimbabwe. In March 2017, Zimbabwe opened its doors of the first pediatric otolaryngology clinic. This is a public clinic that has two operating rooms and a recovery room for in-patient care. Within that first year, thousands of patients traveled from all over Zimbabwe to receive treatment from the clinic. Only one other clinic such as this one existed in Africa at the time.
Following the clinic’s outstanding success, in May 2018 the first international symposium to promote the expansion of pediatric otolaryngology across Africa took place. The PENTAfrica symposium resided in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe that year. Health care physicians and otolaryngologists from North America, Europe and Africa engaged in these ENT discussions. The purpose of the conference was to create a long-term plan to further extend ENT care to various African countries.
Zimbabwe is one of many countries in Africa that is in dire need of ear, nose and throat care. The effects of leaving ENT illnesses untreated has left lasting effects, including deafness, on populations in Zimbabwe. However, after the opening of their first ENT clinic, more clinics and treatment are underway to treat patients suffering from ENT illnesses.
– Lucia Elmi
Photo: Flickr
WGHA’s Impact on Health Equity
The Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA) is a group that aims to improve the health equity of the world’s poor by connecting organizations to Washington’s global health sector. WGHA’s impact on health equity happens through the creation of these connections through the development of strategic relationships, hosting assemblies and communicating effectively. In all, WGHA unites 14,000 employees and 268 Washington-based small businesses, nonprofits and research institutes, which contribute $9 billion to the state’s economy. Moreover, while the alliance works mostly behind-the-scenes as a convener, the organization also creates public opportunities for other groups to meet and discuss important issues ranging from women in the global health sector to antimicrobial resistance to global health educator workshops.
Creating WGHA
The alliance established in Seattle, WA after a recognition that Seattle had grown into a global health powerhouse. At the time, there was not a platform in existence to allow connection between those in the global health sector.
In 2008, WGHA’s founders reached out to entities like the Washington governor, leaders of global health organizations and the University of Washington with an idea. The founders pitched that the region should focus on advancing health on a global level through a connective platform.
In an interview with The Borgen Project, the current President of WGHA, Dena Morris, said that WGHA emphasizes this belief with the question of “How can we do more together?” Further, Morris said that the organization believes the diversity in the connections it makes will allow it to foster new ideas with speedy information delivery and higher creativity flow.
With that question and those beliefs in mind, six members eventually formed WGHA with the support of various organizations including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PATH, University of Washington, Washington State University, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. From there, WGHA’s impact on health equity grew rapidly and the organization now has over 200 allies.
Past Successes
In 2012, WGHA, Puget Sound Regional Council and Life Science Washington created the Global Health Nexus, a public exhibit and student competition focused on educating the community on global health. Three-hundred volunteers from Seattle and surrounding areas came together to build a platform that enhanced the ability to collaborate and take action regarding global health issues.
During the Ebola crisis of 2015, WGHA assembled more than 50 leaders from NGOs, research institutes, the private sector and various governments. This massive effort allowed the sharing of vital information with the CDC’s Ebola response team.
In 2011, WGHA created the Washington Global Health fund, which received $1.2 million from the Washington state legislature. The goal of the fund was to harness new health technologies and create more medical focused jobs throughout the state.
WGHA Meetings and Events
WGHA had seven planned events for April 2020 alone. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, it has either postponed its events or chosen to host them virtually. Morris told The Borgen Project that she believes that it is more crucial than ever to continue to provide conventions in the face of the pandemic. Specifically, the organization is “working to identify the optimal virtual platforms” to support these events.
The Women in Global Health Seattle Q1 Meeting (WGH Seattle) is one of the March events that the organization has postponed. Morris specifically mentioned this event as apart of the Women in Global Health movement, which is a movement that aims to create a distinct path towards leadership positions for women in the global health sector. The Q1 Meeting will likely happen on June 11th as an open event to the public. “That’s open to the broader community, and the more diversity we have in that room, the better off we are,” Morris says.
WGH Seattle consists of professional women working in global health within the Seattle area. This organization recognizes that leadership in the global health sector would become more innovative if there was an increase in diversity and improved gender-balance. These efforts aim to achieve specific developmental goals. For example, 75 percent of the global health workforce includes women but only 25 percent of global health leadership consists of women, according to Morris. She also stated that “when women are a part of the policy-making process, [the world will] end up with better outcomes for health, and economy and education, so entire communities are better served.”
WGHA’s Projects
Another current project of WGHA is the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Global (STEM Global), which “prepares the next generation of global health researchers, practitioners and champions.” STEM Global attempts to build a bridge between students who typically receive underrepresentation in the STEM field. Additionally, the project aims to connect those underrepresented individuals to global health jobs. STEM Global and WGHA also assists educators to better understand global health careers and how students can effectively navigate the path to such careers.
Additionally, the Next Generation of Leaders in Africa is a remarkable initiative of WGHA. The program emerged in April 2019 when WGHA gathered 45 representatives from 26 of the allied organizations and discussed the need for specific improvements. The group conferred and agreed on two things: there is a need for an increase in African voices in the conversations and there is a need to create an infrastructure in which emerging leaders can succeed.
WGHA’s goals for this project are vast and specific, which provide precise measurement of achievements. One goal includes the implementation of training for doctoral researchers in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya to ensure control for local leaders over the specific diseases and ailments that affect communities. Other goals are to provide training to eye bank technicians and ophthalmic surgeons in Ethiopia to ensure local development of eye banks and conduction of eye transplants, and to develop vaccine production in South Africa to ensure that vaccines will reach the appropriate individuals with minimal financial burden and improvements in local infrastructure with supply chain expertise in Mozambique and labs in Kenya.
Morris shared that global health is not simply about people from developed nations providing a poverty-stricken country with temporary fixes. Improving the state of global health is about building a strong infrastructure to allow emerging health leaders to succeed in long-term development and improvements of public health. WGHA’s impact on health equity is profound and growing by consistently providing opportunities to communicate within the global health sector.
– Marlee Septak
Photo: Unsplash
10 Facts About Sanitation in El Salvador
Both water and sanitation are crucial to survival and a decent life. The water crisis has affected many countries and millions of people, but El Salvador, home to 6.1 million people, is dangerously close to running out of water. El Salvador’s abundant water resources are also grossly polluted, with only 10 percent of surface water safe to drink. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in El Salvador.
10 Facts About Sanitation in El Salvador
Sanitation and water accessibility are often connected issues. In El Salvador, water is disappearing, compromising sanitation and health. These 10 facts about sanitation in El Salvador bring awareness to this very serious issue. With continued efforts by non-profits and other humanitarian organizations, however, water access and sanitation in El Salvador will hopefully improve.
– Marissa Taylor
Photo: Flickr
How the COVID-19 Crisis Is Impacting Global Poverty
The COVID-19 crisis or coronavirus pandemic continues to grow as the number of global cases rises. With U.S. President Donald Trump approving a fiscal stimulus package of $2.2 trillion, the dire economic ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis grow more significant. Yet, there are disproportionate economic impacts on the world’s poor that highlight the implications of COVID-19 on global poverty.
What the COVID-19 Crisis Means for Global Poverty
Unfortunately, the aftershocks of COVID-19 will destabilize the world economy even further during the beginning of 2020 and beyond. The Asian Development Bank already estimates that the collective global impact of the COVID-19 crisis will be between $77 billion to nearly $347 billion in economic output costs worldwide.
The World Economic Forum calls the COVID-19 crisis a “pandemic in the age of inequality” as it especially impacts countries lacking universal health care or adequate health care systems. Many workers have lost work and are cannot even take paid sick leave of any kind.
“[I] fear hunger will kill us before coronavirus,’’ says Momanned Sabir, a young street entrepreneur in Delhi who owns a yogurt-based drink shop. Her words come in response to the three-week lockdown that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed. Poverty and unemployment impact many daily wage earners and workers in informal and unorganized sectors. This is particularly evident in nationwide lockdowns from India, China, the Philippines, the Middle East and European countries.
Among the 50 countries under the United Nations’ Least-Developed Country Status (LDC), more than 900 million remain vulnerable to the risk of COVID-19. This is due to the poor health care infrastructure and resources to support a large-scale health crisis. Most importantly, many countries continue to be in short supply of testing kits.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for $2 billion to help the world’s poor who have been impacted by COVID-19. World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus implores G20 nations to offer aid and support low and middle-income countries.
Future Course of Action
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamn has proposed an economic stimulus package for financial relief to women and vulnerable groups. For example, there are welfare systems that distribute free gas cylinders, wheat and rice for up to three months. For women in India’s Jan Dhan banking system, the government offers compensation of 500 rupees for the next three months. In addition, India has issued a bailout package of $22 billion to help cushion the economic impacts of its lockdown, especially as several daily wage and unorganized workers have lost out on work and pay during this period.
The number of testing kits will also increase soon due to the invention of a new working test kit by Dr. Minal Dhakave Bhosale. India will thus rely less on more expensive imported kits. There will be a distribution of more than 100,000 kits every week from now on.
Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided $50 billion to control the COVID-19 crisis in low-income countries that seek support through its emergency financing facilities. Along with the IMF, the World Bank is also providing debt relief to poor countries through loans and grants. The group is also working with more than 35 countries to address the economic implications of the pandemic. The World Bank also plans to spend a whopping $160 billion over the next 15 months and is already securing fixed amounts for wide-scale mitigation efforts and projects.
Oxfam International is working on ways to use its knowledge and expertise in public health to better address the ongoing crisis, especially after its work during other outbreaks like Ebola and the Zika virus. Oxfam is also assisting in the delivery of sanitation services and offering accurate information to people.
Looking to the Future
To help those who have lost jobs due to COVID-19, the Asian Development Bank recommends focusing on strengthening social assistance. It also urges attention to upgrading labor market policies and programs.
The COVID-19 crisis could also impact the way the world addresses global poverty going forward, especially given the potential global impacts. It will take long-term development strategies to get low-income workers and poorer communities back on their feet.
Photo: Flickr
5 Sustainable Technologies Solving Water Scarcity
More than 1 billion people live in areas with water scarcity or the lack of access to freshwater resources. However, current innovations are tackling water scarcity in creative and environmentally friendly ways. Here are five sustainable technologies solving water scarcity.
5 Sustainable Technologies Solving Water Scarcity
For the millions of people across the globe lacking access to clean water, these are five sustainable technologies solving water scarcity. Technology like these has the potential to make a substantial difference in the world in terms of sustainable solutions for sanitation and access to water.
– Kayleigh Rubin
Photo: Wikimedia
3D Printing In Impoverished Nations
3D printing is a technology that has existed since the 1980s. Over time, additive technology has increasingly progressed where various medical applications can use it. 3D printing in impoverished nations has several benefits specifically in medicine and medical services relating to the affordability for the general populous of these nations. 3D printing for medical applications is the process of utilizing a digital blueprint or digital model, slicing the model into manageable bits and then reconstructing it with various types of materials, typically plastic. Here are three examples of 3D printing in impoverished nations.
3 Examples of 3D Printing in Impoverished Nations
These three examples of 3D printing in impoverished nations show just how important 3D printing is and will continue to be to aiding those in need. With further development, 3D printing should allow people to receive prosthetics and organ transplants more easily.
– Jacob Creswell
Photo: Wikimedia
Targeting the Roots of HIV/AIDS Stigma in Mexico
As of 2018, approximately 230,000 people in Mexico were living with HIV. About 75 percent of people with HIV in Mexico were aware of their status and about 70 percent were accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART). While ART does not cure HIV, it is a combination of drugs that is able to suppress the virus and significantly reduce transmission rates. HIV is highly prevalent in certain populations in Mexico including sex workers (specifically in the Tijuana red light zone), prisoners, gay men and the transgender community. As a result, there is a significant HIV/AIDS stigma in Mexico.
Since 2003, The Universal Access to ART Program has guaranteed access to ART in Mexico through the national health system. Additionally, this policy ensures the availability of HIV tests for individuals without social security. These governmental actions are significant steps towards reducing HIV prevalence, but 30 percent of individuals living with HIV in Mexico are still not accessing treatment. This is in part due to stigma and fear surrounding the social implications of receiving testing or treatment.
Implications of the Stigma Surrounding HIV
The social stigma around HIV and discrimination based on sexual orientation in Mexico is one of the issues that discourage many people from getting tested. Tradition and religion, especially in rural and poorer areas, are major obstacles to destigmatizing HIV. At the root of this issue are the “machismo” culture and anti-gay beliefs.
As a result of this stigma, people have associated getting tested for HIV with being gay or promiscuous. Consequently, many people are unaware of their HIV status and are not receiving treatment out of fear of discrimination. About 20 percent of patients who are undergoing treatment for HIV do not keep up with their treatment plans or their follow-ups which is also in part due to stigma and discrimination.
Mexico should prioritize the addressing of HIV/AIDS stigma. There is no point in putting resources into treatments and facilities without first ensuring that people obtaining testing or complying with their treatment plans. The quality of the treatment and health care is crucial but will not matter without patient cooperation.
Recent Progress
UNAIDS set forth the 90-90-90 goal for HIV treatment in 2015. This target mobilized efforts globally to test 90 percent of people living with HIV, to provide 90 percent of those people with HIV treatment, and to achieve viral suppression for 90 percent of those by 2020. Mexico has made significant progress towards this goal but has yet to achieve it.
Recent policies have addressed the HIV/AIDS stigma in Mexico, such as the code of conduct from the ministry of health, which includes training to prevent discriminatory behavior and promote respect and patient confidentiality for HIV cases. This code of conduct aims to reduce stigma and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in health centers throughout Mexico.
A study in 2016 that examined the prevalence of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Tijuana, Mexico concluded that there is an urgent need for new testing methods. These interventions include non-stigmatizing, confidential testing for younger and less educated MSM, as well as timely referral to HIV treatment. Confidential HIV testing will not necessarily reduce stigma, but it has the potential to increase the number of people who are willing to obtain testing and have access to ARTs. In addition to these testing methods, Mexico could implement community-based HIV awareness programs that educate and destigmatize HIV to target HIV/AIDS stigma in Mexico and encourage testing.
Overall, Mexico has made significant progress to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mexico. The country has been making great strides to overcome various obstacles, including socioeconomic inequality and HIV/AIDS stigma in order to increase the number of people receiving testing and treatment.
– Maia Cullen
Photo: Pixabay
10 Facts About Sanitation in Honduras
After decades of military rule, Honduras established a freely-elected civilian government in 1982. Honduras remains the second-poorest country in South America, however. Much of the country’s economy still depends on U.S. trade and remittance. The CIA estimates that about 15 percent of investing in Honduras is direct foreign investments from U.S. firms. Honduras’s GDP is on a constant rise, but it also reflects the unequal distribution of wealth. This unequal distribution of wealth contributes to the state of sanitation in Honduras. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Honduras.
10 Facts About Sanitation in Honduras
These 10 facts about sanitation in Honduras highlight the progress that has been made, as well as the continuing struggles. Moving forward, it is essential that the government and other humanitarian organizations continue to make sanitation in Honduras a priority.
– YongJin Yi
Photo: Flickr
VetAfrica: An App to Treat Cattle with Diseases
More than 500 million Africans gain money to support their families through the practice of small scale farming. As a result, healthy cattle are crucial because they offer meat, milk and labor. Keeping cattle healthy is critical to farmers who are trying to earn a living. However, many farm animals die every year in Africa from preventable diseases, especially in Ethiopia, which has the largest population of livestock in Africa. VetAfrica, a mobile app that first debuted in 2014, provides tips to farmers on how to diagnose and treat cattle with diseases.
Who Does it Reach?
VetAfrica tackles diseases in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda because more than 80 percent of people in those countries work in farming. Some diseases that the app included are anaplasmosis (a disease that tick bites cause) and fasciolosis (a parasitic worm infection).
How Does it Work?
There are three main parts to the app: VetAfrica Mobile, VetAfrica Hub and VetAfrica Expert. VetAfrica Mobile gives information about disease symptoms to farms in order to educate them about how to identify them in their cattle. It also allows farmers to share data with other farmers to spread awareness and possible paths to treat cattle with diseases. VetAfrica Hub is an online website to sort and evaluate data that farmers upload to the app. Through VetAfrica Hub, farmers and health care specialists can learn about cases of cattle diseases and be aware of possible disease outbreaks. VetAfrica Expert lets medical professionals add information to the app about possible diseases.
Criticisms
One of the main criticisms of VetAfrica is that many Africans cannot use it because they may not have access to a smartphone or WiFi. To address the problem, VetAfrica creators designed the app to work offline. Proponents for VetAfrica also explain that purchasing a smartphone to use will provide various benefits to farmers outside of just saving their cattle, such as educational tools for their children.
Successes
The VetAfrica app has diagnosed more than 2,000 cases so far and 80 percent of the app’s diagnoses matched those of professional veterinarians. The app also helped farmers find quick diagnoses and treatments for their cattle, improving the quality of life and overall lifespan and productivity of their cattle. Data that uploaded to the VetAfrica database also helped spread the word about possible disease outbreaks to health care officials.
Overall, the implementation of VetAfrica to treat cattle with diseases has drastically changed the lives of East African farmers. The app provides a new perspective to farmers about cattle diseases, allowing them to be more knowledgeable and active in keeping their cattle healthy. VetAfrica, an app that is saving cattle from diseases every day has brought a newfound sense of economic prosperity to East African farmers.
– Shveta Shah
Photo: Flickr
Health Disparities During Apartheid in South Africa
Apartheid was a system that law in South Africa enforced. It was based on racial classification that imposed a rigid hierarchy. The system classified people into categories of white, Indian, colored and black. These categories determined where people could live, work and go to school, as well as who they could marry and whether or not they could vote. The government displaced many people and decreased funding for social services such as education and health care for nonwhites.
Disparities During Apartheid
Health disparities during Apartheid reflected these racial categories. Non-communicable disease rates increased for whites while poverty-related diseases, such as infectious diseases or diseases that poor sanitation or living conditions caused, increased for blacks. Additionally, blacks faced much higher maternal, infant and child mortality rates which reflects access and quality to health care.
Another significant issue that arose in the health system during Apartheid was the change in the doctor to patient ratio. Estimates in the early 1970s determined that the doctor to population ratio in the Bantustans, the areas the system specifically set aside for blacks to live, was 1 to every 15,000 rather than 1 to every 1,700 in the rest of the country. This highlights the lack of health care coverage and the extent to which black and non-whites suffered systematic discrimination both economically and in terms of health care. From 1980 to 1990, the number of doctors working in the private sector increased from 40 to 60 percent. By the time Apartheid ended in 1994, almost three-quarters of general doctors worked in the private sectors, making it even more difficult for people to afford health care.
Current Health Inequalities
Health disparities during Apartheid significantly impacted the health care situation in South Africa today. There are currently severe health disparities in South Africa stemming from economic inequalities. The wealthiest 10 percent of the country receives 51 percent of the income, while the poorest 10 percent receive .2 percent of the income.
Despite the fact that South Africa groups with middle-income countries in terms of economy, the health issues in South Africa are worse than in many low-income countries. Post-Apartheid, the burden of disease quadrupled due to an increase in diseases of poverty, non-communicable diseases, HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and increased violence and injury. While the country has made significant progress, high tuberculosis and HIV prevalence remain major issues.
Improvements in South Africa
Many consider the 1996 Constitution that South Africa enacted after the end of Apartheid to be very inclusive and democratic even compared to other countries around the world. It reflects the difficult fight against lawful discrimination and segregation and includes a Bill of Rights, acknowledging the universal right to health care services, food, water and social security. This was a significant step towards progress despite the formation of severe health disparities during apartheid.
In addition to the 1996 Constitution, the national state pension system unified and new grants emerged such as child support grants. There have also been major improvements regarding providing basic services such as water and electricity to poor households. There has been significant progress with regard to legislation, but one should not overlook the social and economic factors.
Redistribution requires priority over growth in South Africa in order to address the issues of health inequality. Following Apartheid, President Mandela focused on growth through redistribution as a way of focusing on decreasing economic inequality. After Mandela, President Mbeki’s policies focused more on net economic growth rather than redistribution. In 2007, government revenue exceeded expenditure for the first time since the 1950s. The current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has rallied behind National Health Insurance (NHI) and strongly advocates for universal health. care coverage. He acknowledges that there are enough resources in the country, so health insurance and care should be available to all regardless of ability to pay. This is a very important step for South Africa and suggests that progress will continue with regard to these health disparities.
– Maia Cullen
Photo: Flickr
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