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The challenges facing African health care in the coming years have been highlighted in two new reports.
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced Africans’ life expectancy by 0.66 years over a two-year period, according to new World Health Organization data, reversing many of the gains made since the 2000s.The WHO highlighted the success of initiatives targeting HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in reducing mortality on the continent in recent years but did not address the impact of recent USAID funding withdrawal on such care going forward.
In a separate report, the McKinsey Health Institute noted how Africa was particularly impacted by the global shortage of health care workers. Africa has 17% of the world’s population, but accounts for 52% of the shortage of health care workers, it noted. This is a significant opportunity missed, according to the institute, which estimates that eliminating the continent’s worker shortage has the “potential” to secure a seven-year improvement in life expectancy.
