Written by Halle Ichiuji
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For years, Africa’s ailing government officials flew to developed nations for their healthcare needs, often at the expense of taxpayers' money. Cameroon’s Paul Biya regularly seeks treatment abroad and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe died in a hospital in Singapore. With worldwide flights grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic, African leaders and elites are unable to seek medical care abroad and forced to turn their attention to their own healthcare systems. This brings to light Africa’s neglected healthcare system which has been underfunded for years (CNN).
So far there have been few reported coronavirus cases in Africa in comparison to many developed nations. The first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Liberia, followed by a few dozen cases in March (WEF). But like other countries where the COVID-19 appeared in isolated cases, it’s only a matter of time before the pandemic hits in full force. When this happens, Africa’s underfunded health care systems will be overwhelmed and unable to handle the escalating outbreaks of this disease (WEF). Central Africa Republic (CAR), among the poorest African nations, is one of the least prepared countries to face the pandemic. With only 3 ventilators supporting a country of 5 million, along with its dense populations and poor sanitation, the stage is set for a catastrophe (The Atlantic). Ill equipped to properly treat patients, Zimbabwe medics described the poor hospital conditions as causing “silent genocide” (CNN). Africa has little hope of an effective international response when developed countries have their own challenges controlling the coronavirus. This is troubling because Africa relies heavily on humanitarian aid to meet its healthcare needs. The U.S. and U.K. are busy securing enough ventilators and protective equipment for its own citizens. Also, the support of humanitarian medical aid, which many African nations heavily rely upon, will be severely impacted due to the suspension of international flights. 70% of CAR’s healthcare services are dependent on these aid organizations (NRC).
Providing public healthcare has not been a priority for many African governments. In 2001, 52 African nations met in Nigeria and pledged to spend 15% of their national budget on healthcare (CNN). According to the WHO, Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana, and Zambia are the only countries who have met that pledge. Providing public healthcare has not been a priority for many African governments. For instance, in 2018, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari traveled four times to the UK to treat an undisclosed illness. Many argued that the money spent on Buhari’s medical care could have been used toward Nigeria’s healthcare system. It was stated that President Buhari “just loves flying around,” which characterizes an elitist attitude and lack of concern for his own people (CNN). In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and tight travel restrictions, African leaders will be forced to take a bigger look and stance on their healthcare systems.
This topic demonstrates the difficulty in building successful national institutions where political leaders place their individual interests over the needs of the people whom they serve. Over the years, Africa’s poorly funded healthcare systems have faced multiple crises, such as ebola and HIV (Washington Times), while its leaders received medical care abroad. Now that international airports have closed due to COVID-19, government elites will have to take their chances at home.
Discussion Questions:
- Should developed countries, who provide humanitarian aid, hold African leaders accountable for their actions?
- Why do the general population allow corrupt politicians to prevail?
I don't believe that the general population necessarily "allows" corrupt politicians to prevail, but rather its something that happens because they can't do anything about it. It's idealistic to believe that the public and civilians have the power to take down people in high government ranks. Like in the upcoming election, but politicians have had negative things said about them and they are both corrupt in some aspect. That is simply the life of politics. However, the people have the ability through freedom of speech and voting to act to prevent the most corrupt candidate to win. However, freedom of speech is a privilege here in America. In other countries, people may not have that right, if they speak poorly about something they will face the consequences. There are many other reasons that a politician may prevail with the general populations approval, such as promises, secrecy, and many other factors.
ReplyDelete(Not a reply)-my comment won't post regularly
DeleteI don't think that African leaders should necessarily be held accountable or punished for their financial spending, but I do think they should change the way they spend. Being that disease is a major issue in most underdeveloped countries, the leaders of these nations should be investing and focusing more attention on health care. With thousands of unwell citizens in a country, something like a global pandemic would have a detrimental effect on an undeveloped country. Therefore, improving the health care in countries like these can have more benefits than just healthier people. Healthy people can work better, which would improve productivity, therefore improving the economy, and increasing the countries global value. Improving health care systems, as well as water quality, and other essential living needs should be a priority for these leaders. All these things would improve the living standards of the people, which is something any country's leader should prioritize. Developed countries, who provide humanitarian aid can help these leaders do that or at least provide some services for the people while changes are being made.
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ReplyDeleteI think the reason why a population might not do anything about a corrupt leader or politician, is because they either can't or don't know how to. A corrupt Politician might uses "corrupt" or false promises to gain a lot of support from the people, without the people knowing their true intentions. Once this falsy "trust" has been established between some of the population-- or even most-- the politician likely can't be exposed as corrupt by some others. Another reason is the fact that people don't know enough about politics or the politician they are allowing to prevail. A population might not realize that who they are supporting actually has deceitful intentions.
I necessarily think that African leaders should be held accountable, or punished for their actions in country spending, but I do think they should change the way they are spending. While disease is a major issue for many underdeveloped countries, leaders of these nations should be doing more to improve the health care system. Better health care can have positive effects on more than just the citizens health. With more, healthy workers, productivity can increase, which would help the economy and a countries global value. Improving the health care system, as well as water cleanliness and other basic living needs, peoples standard of living will be raised. Creating a better country for your people should be a goal that all nation leaders try to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that African leaders should necessarily be held accountable or punished for their financial spending, but I do think they should change the way they do spend. Being that disease is a major issue in most underdeveloped countries, the leaders of these nations should be investing and focusing more attention on health care. With thousands of unwell citizens in a country, something like a global pandemic would have a detrimental effect on an undeveloped country. Therefore, improving the health care in countries like these can have more benefits than just healthier people. Healthy people can work better, which would improve productivity, therefore improving the economy, and increasing the countries global value. Improving health care systems, as well as water quality, and other essential living needs should be a priority for these leaders. All these things would improve the living standards of the people, which is something any country's leader should prioritize. Developed countries, who provide humanitarian aid can help these leaders do that or at least provide some services for the people while changes are being made.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that African leaders should necessarily be held accountable or punished for their financial spending, but I do think they should change the way they do spend. Being that disease is a major issue in most underdeveloped countries, the leaders of these nations should be investing and focusing more attention on health care. With thousands of unwell citizens in a country, something like a global pandemic would have a detrimental effect on an undeveloped country. Therefore, improving the health care in countries like these can have more benefits than just healthier people. Healthy people can work better, which would improve productivity, therefore improving the economy, and increasing the countries global value. Improving health care systems, as well as water quality, and other essential living needs should be a priority for these leaders. All these things would improve the living standards of the people, which is something any country's leader should prioritize. Developed countries, who provide humanitarian aid can help these leaders do that or at least provide some services for the people while changes are being made.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that African leaders should necessarily be held accountable or punished for their financial spending, but I do think they should change the way they do spend. Being that disease is a major issue in most underdeveloped countries, the leaders of these nations should be investing and focusing more attention on health care. With thousands of unwell citizens in a country, something like a global pandemic would have a detrimental effect on an undeveloped country. Therefore, improving the health care in countries like these can have more benefits than just healthier people. Healthy people can work better, which would improve productivity, therefore improving the economy, and increasing the countries global value. Improving health care systems, as well as water quality, and other essential living needs should be a priority for these leaders. All these things would improve the living standards of the people, which is something any country's leader should prioritize. Developed countries, who provide humanitarian aid can help these leaders do that or at least provide some services for the people while changes are being made.
ReplyDelete