How can developing countries increase healthcare access?

Kenya has recently launched 4 laws that seek to advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC) These are: 1. Primary Health Care-to enhance preventive healthcare services through the involvement of a workforce consisting of 100,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs). 2. Facility Improvement Financing-to restrict funds raised in public health facilities. 3. Digital Health-to encourage the utilization of telemedicine and the digitalization of healthcare services. 4. Social Health Insurance-the objective is to replace the existing National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the establishment of three new funds. Without a doubt, these laws represent a positive leap toward delivering accessible and high-quality healthcare services to every Kenyan.

For so long we have waited for the government to carry the burden of providing adequate healthcare which isn't forth coming. To solve this problem, developing countries can leverage the private sector through partnerships. The private sector is the catalyst to a functioning and resilient health care system. The government must put the necessary regulatory framework in place that'll enable the private sector to thrive whilst providing adequate healthcare services, while the government can focus on infrastructure and regulation.

The dynamics of health strengthen systems in LMIC remains complicated due to limited resources. On an average, the health budget for each African is about $50 per annum. Therefore, conducting robust need assessments and listing out priority areas with the most significant important is critical in choosing what part of the health system deserves l the limited resources at our disposal. This would be different in different country, and a custom approach to HSS remains viable at this time.

In Nigeria, only about 2% of the population have some kind of health insurance. The population is over 150 million people. Out-of-pocket spending remains the primary determinant of health seeking behavior in the country, while poor health financing limits the availability of these services especially in rural areas. By increasing health insurance uptake and public health spending, Africa has a chance at UHC and progressing on SDG 3.

In Africa, poverty is the primary determinant of health. It has been difficult to eliminate many infectious diseases of poverty like malaria and NCDs due to worsening socioeconomic conditions of Africans. Decent work and economic opportunities are levers of good health, and addressing poverty alone with have cascading effects on other social determinants of health.

Digital health solutions, while effective and innovative do not thrive in areas without access to internet and basic digital skills. We really don't need more digital tools in Africa. We need more users of digital tools.

Participatory problem finding help solution design, and foster partnership for programme implementation. Community engagement must be included at every stage of our interventions.

Ensuring local capacity through training and skill based training to health workers in the hard to reach remote geography would be one way to increase the access of remote population and provide health care services to the people most in need. On the other hand, having availability of the most essential medicine is important. thus, ensuring a continuous supply chain of essential medicine is another aspect to bear in mind while designing health care intervention in the developing world.