Improvement of public
health and health infrastructure is a national priority in Equatorial Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea and
Botswana lead Africa in per capita
investments in health care, according to a World Health
Organization (WHO) report, but
the gap in spending between Africa and the rest of the world is still a concern. The statistics are from the WHO’s 2012 Health
Financing and Health MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) Scorecard and Africa’s
first Multi Year Health Financing Trends Analysis.
The surveys show
Equatorial Guinea’s per capita annual
spending at $612 and Botswana’s at $442.
The survey results
were presented by Rotimi Sankore to the WHO’s Joint Conference of Finance and
Health Ministers, which met in Tunis July 4-5. Sankore is also coordinator of the
Africa Public Health Alliance and 15%+ Campaign, a non-profit organization
promoting health development and financing across Africa, and secretary of Africa Public Health Parliamentary
Network.
Sankore described
the gap in health investment between industrialized and developing countries as
“too wide.” He said that investment in the Africa region is as low as $41 per
person, with an overall 9.6.percent of budget in Africa dedicated to health.
That compares with 16.9 percent in the Americas, 14.6 percent in Europe, and
14.4 percent in the western Pacific region. Average regional per capita spending is $1,566 in America
and $1,677 in Europe, he said.
The World Health
Organization has urged African governments to increase investment in health.
Equatorial Guinea’s per capita investment
of $612 compares to South Africa at $228 and Morocco at $59, and neighbors
Gabon and Cameroon at $127 and $16, respectively. Figures for each nation can
be affected by the availability of private health care.
Equatorial Guinea was ranked number 40 in percentage of national
budget dedicated to health at 7.2%, which reflects the large share of the
national budget dedicated to a broad range of infrastructure projects,
including education, highways, electrification and communications.
Sankore compared Equatorial Guinea and
Botswana with Cuba, at $623, and Costa Rica, at $449. He said that although the
investments were similar, the health outcomes are better in Costa Rica and Cuba
due to better education and retention of health workers, greater availability
of clean water, superior sanitation, hygiene and nutrition, more equitable
distribution of health services, and better vaccine coverage.
Improving the
health infrastructure in Equatorial Guinea is one of the principal goals of President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo’s Horizon 2020 development program. Equatorial Guinea has heavily invested in its
public health sector and contributed to international efforts to improve public
health, particularly in Africa. The government donated $15.8 million to
reduce malaria in children last May 2011. In 2010, the government donated $1.5
million and a headquarters facility to the World Health Organization to
support research for global health.
Equatorial Guinea
has also provided technical assistance to the local United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
to improve the effectiveness of its assistance program and has implemented a
host of health programs geared toward improving the health of Equatorial
Guineans. Basic health indicators such as rates of infant and child mortality
have been improving steadily in the country, and the government is widely
recognized for its efforts to eradicate malaria.
