Making healthcare affordable and accessible for all so as to attain good health is a fundamental agenda government of all governments. There are different paths to achieving this goal from government to government even as there are different priorities with the healthcare service delivery. Unfortunately, in Africa, there is evidence of decades of under-investment, under-development and over-stretching of healthcare system that has affected service delivery which in turn has given compromised health outcomes.
A private investor in the Industry, Jayesh Saini says that there are two main areas that are interrelated and affect the health outcomes of any society, namely availability of the health facilities with requisite services that take care of the needs of the populations and access to finances to pay for the services. The two must be available simultaneously if success is to be reached. It does not make sense to have ultra-modern facilities, whether basic or tertiary and yet the services are not affordable to the majority of the people. The converse is also true that there is no logic in, for declaring that health services are free or highly rebated and yet there are no facilities to get the services. Though this may be look very obvious, there are instances where though individuals are enrolled through being dependants to a principle contributor to Kenya’s NHIF, but they live in a very remote area where there are no health facilities nearby. The services are affordable but not available.
With similar scenarios in other countries, the issue of who provides the resources to meet the two areas of focus cannot be ignored. As governments continue having more in their plates to fulfil, especially as the demand for improved infrastructure for better business, there is limited fiscal resources to be distribute among the demands. This is one of the reasons why the required minimum of 15% of the national GDP has not been achieved by majority of the countries. Many governments are encouraging more private players to invest in healthcare, realising that they cannot make it alone with all the demands and limited financial resources. Undoubtedly, the private sector is very important towards the growth of the health sector – from setting up health facilities, pharmaceutical products, providing insurance coverage and helping the governments to come up with policy proposals of making healthcare affordable, especially in light of the changing dynamics of the industry. Technological advancements and new complex health conditions and resistances are critical players in the demand for more resources. The paltry access to finances for a majority of the populations who have to pay out of pocket for services has made many non-governmental organisations to set up facilities that offer highly rebated services. This is normally possible by the organisations looking for financiers who commit to support programs and procurement of required resources so that patients are buffered from these costs of procurement of services.
Pooling together of resources for development of the industry is the way to go for all who seek to attain UHC that is actually affordable and of good quality. The governments must make the environment conducive for investors to invest in the health sector, especially considering that most of the countries have huge foreign debt burdens that they are dealing with and cannot afford to invest in any sectors as would be required. When the environments are favourable, both local and foreign investors are available to put their money into the industry. Every investor wants to know that there shall have a return on their investment within practical timeframes. With the COVID-19 outbreak, the national treasuries were stretched and it has been evident that this time round the private sector was a source of relief, as various bodies came on board to give the very needed assistance including non-health sectors such as bank made provisions for masks, sanitizers and other requirements. This greatly eased the pressure off the public facilities.
Private investors are entering into regions that even the governments had not reached, just to ensure that the disadvantaged members of the society have access to health services, through the construction of health facilities or programs of supporting in payments for the services.
According to Jayesh Saini, involvement of the private sector in healthcare to a higher extent will ensure that there is increased access to capital which will boost significant growth in the sector in the places of intervention. As the private sector gets more involved, it will also mean an increased revenue flow for the government as there are more things/items of taxation such as salaries while at the same time alleviate the human resource shortage especially through training facilities for skilled health workers and creating employment opportunities.
