“In many parts of Africa, access to and quality of medical services remain poor. While economic growth in recent decades has fostered improved health care on the continent, weak funding, brain drain of trained professionals, and ongoing
battles with diseases such as TB, HIV, diarrheal diseases, and malaria as well as recurring epidemics such as Ebola continue to put immense pressure on medical systems in many countries. Faced with struggling medical systems, African policymakers are tasked with rethinking how medical systems are funded and sustained. Where budgetary decisions are heavily contested and politically expensive, one option may be to raise taxes or user fees to allow for increased spending on public health care.
Afrobarometer survey findings indicate that opponents of such a policy outnumber supporters in 21 of 36 surveyed countries, despite the fact that many citizens have difficulty accessing adequate medical care.”
