ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 26 — Out-of-pocket medical spending pushes 150 million Africans into poverty every year, according to a senior official at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Speaking at the 76th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, Aboubakri Diaw, chief of staff at the Office of the UNECA Executive Secretary, said medical spending makes up 35 percent of health expenditure in Africa, above the WHO’s benchmark of 20 percent.
“Africa’s health sector does not only suffer from a financing gap. It also suffers from a confidence gap. That cannot be borrowed,” said Diaw.
He urged African countries to replace fragmented plans with one politically endorsed national health-financing compact, saying that “putting money behind a credible national compact can finance transformation.”
Out-of-pocket spending is forcing African citizens to lose their livelihoods and reduce their expenditure on basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter, further eroding their health outcomes, Diaw warned.
He underscored the need to reposition health costs from a recurrent social expenditure to a productive economic investment through integrating health priorities into national development plans, and linking budgets to measurable health and economic outcomes.
According to a 2024 WHO report, out-of-pocket payments continue to place a heavy financial burden on over 200 million people across Africa, with rural households and those headed by older persons bearing the brunt. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
