[wanabidii] Re: Why Rwanda leads East Africa in healthcare

On Thursday, July 12, 2012 9:37:56 PM UTC-4, Mobhare Matinyi wrote:
> Why Rwanda leads East Africa in healthcare
>
> Rwandan President Paul Kagame (Picture: CS Monitor).
>
> I will be doing a research about Rwanda's progress in health care delivery this coming winter break and I do need a contact in Rwanda, I have never been there. Can anyone help me out...I would really appreciate it. You can reach me though ---nkroti10@stlawu.edu
>
Thanks,
Nathan
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mobhare Matinyi, Washington DC. The Citizen, Thursday, 12
> July 2012 21:11This
> e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled
> to view it
> Once again, Rwanda leads in the East African Community (EAC) in one important
> aspect - government expenditure on healthcare per capita, that is, the
> average amount of money in US dollars that a government spends per person per
> year based on official exchange rate. Rwandan government spent $48 on each
> individual's healthcare in 2009 according to the most recent report.
> The Rwandan amount is almost twice as much as Tanzania's $25 in fourth place,
> but what is so surprising is that Rwanda has increased spending fivefold
> since 2000 while Tanzania has increased only two and half times from $10.07.
> This news may not be a surprise but is still important considering the fact
> that Kenya and Tanzania have recently been hit by medical personnel strikes.
> In December 2011 Kenyan doctors went on strike and within a month their
> counterparts in Tanzania did the same, in both cases the issues being pay and
> working conditions. In March 2012 Kenyan nurses went on strike before
> Tanzanian doctors resumed their strike in June which is still troubling the
> nation.
> According to the report published by the Society for
> International Development (SID), Uganda had the second highest per capita
> healthcare expenditure with $43 followed by Kenya with $33 and as usual
> Burundi was the last with $20. There is a lot of financial data on healthcare
> expenditure, but this one piece regarding per capita expenditure paints a
> very lucid picture on how strategic each country is.
>
> Since Tanzania is going through a crisis, let me zero in on it based on World
> Health Organisation (WHO) data covering the period between 1995 and 2009.
> Starting with total healthcare expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic
> Product (GDP), Tanzania spent 3.77 per cent in 1995 and this figure never
> went up significantly until 2006 when it spent 6.53 per cent. By 2009 the
> figure had dropped to 5.12 per cent. Notably, the United Nations wants
> Tanzania to reach 15 per cent.
>
> From another observation, in 1995 the government spent 40.10 per cent of the
> country's total healthcare expenditure with the remainder coming from
> non-government sources, but come 2005 the government raised it to 48.51 per
> cent. As a result of massive donor support by 2009 the government was
> spending 73.59 per cent.
>
> In absolute amount of money presented in US dollars, based on official
> exchange rate, in 1995 the country spent a total of $114 million with the
> government spending $46 million of that, about 40 per cent as mentioned
> above. As of 2009 the country spent $1,462 million of which the government
> share was $1,076 million, with the Ministry of Health spending $596 million.
>
> Looking at donor support one may be surprised at the figures. Back in 1995
> external resources on health as a percentage of total health expenditure was
> only 9.29 per cent, but that figure reached 36.48 in 2005, then jumped to
> 59.21 and 56.47 per cents in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Imagine if donors
> say enough is enough, you have adequate natural resources, please take care
> of yourself!
> Another dimension is general government expenditure on
> healthcare as a percentage of general government expenditure which gauges the
> attention of government on healthcare. In 1995 the figure was 9.13 per cent,
> increasing to 14.40 per cent in 2006 before reaching 18.08 per cent in 2009,
> twice as much as it was in 1995. Not bad, but still more is needed.
> When he addressed the nation on June 30 in his monthly
> speech, President Jakaya Kikwete hinted that his government has increased the
> healthcare budget from Sh300 billion in 2005/06 to Sh1.2 trillion in 2011/12,
> making it the third largest area after infrastructure and education. Note
> that, average annual inflation rate was below 5 per cent in 2005/06 but has
> mostly been above 10 per cent since October 2008, and is currently close to
> 19 per cent.
>
> While in local currency this appears to be a fourfold
> increase, in foreign currency that isn't the case. WHO data shows that in
> 2005 it was $301 million, and based on the current average exchange rate, the
> 2011/12 amount is about $750 million approximately two and half-times. Again,
> impressive but not enough!
> Frankly, based on our pathetic situation, population
> explosion, and other known challenges, we need to do far better than this.
> So, where is the magic wand? We need to increase our GDP and the nation's
> total expenditure on healthcare as well as the government's spending;
> assuming embezzlement and corruption will not interfere.
>
> Finally, it is time we escaped from donor-dependency syndrome if we truly
> want to be in charge of our own destiny. This is not to mention a host of
> measures such as effectiveness and efficiency, training, equipment,
> facilities, various public health programmes and taking care of our medical
> personnel. I don't think being overtaken by almost all EAC members is a good
> sign at all.
>  
>
>
> SOURCE: http://thecitizen.co.tz/editorial-analysis/47-columnists/23954-why-rwanda-leads-eafrica-in-healthcare.html

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