The spread of the Ebola virus has been fast
and deadly. The Ebola outbreak is the largest in history and the first in West
Africa. As of September 6, 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) said it had
recorded about 4,300 cases in five West African countries and the death toll
was estimated at about 2,300.
But new figures from Liberia, the country
worst hit by the Ebola crisis, are yet to be released. According to WHO, we
should expect thousands of new cases in the next three weeks. Liberian
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the crisis could worsen as the public
health system staggers with inadequate supplies, a population gripped in
deathly fear and limited outside support. As always, in emergencies such as
this, global response if often slow and limited in scale.
While the devastation wrought by Ebola is
both saddening and depressing it is hardly surprising. Ebola has hit some of
the most impoverished countries and has exposed well-known vulnerabilities in
Africa’s public health infrastructure. With vision and dedication, Liberia has
made steady progress in delivering basic health care to its citizens since the
end of the civil war in 2003. But vision and dedication does not cut it.
Liberia’s health care system is beset with crippling capacity problems; a
chronic shortage health care professionals, lack of equipment and poor supply
of essential medicines.
Lack of capacity to deliver health critical
services are not limited to Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria or Sierra Leone. These are
critical concerns as Africa continues to grapple with a multitude of health
challenges, not least of which is the unyielding burden of infectious diseases,
which account for neatly 70 percent of deaths on the continent. But Africa’s
fragile health systems must confront a new challenge. WHO projects that over
the next 10 years the continent will register the largest increase in mortality
from Non-communicable diseases (NCDs); cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes
and respiratory diseases.
The burden of chronic illness in Africa is
projected to increase by 27 percent, killing 28 million people over the next 10
years. Cancer rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to rise by 85 percent by
2030. Similarly, it is estimated that 41.5 million African will be living with
diabetes by 2035. In addition to the staggering burden of infectious diseases,
the cost of treating NCDs, direct and indirect economic burden of chronic
illness will further hinder progress toward attaining the broader goals of
sustainable development.
Africa’s shambolic healthcare infrastructure
must be viewed against the Africa rising narrative. Africa is ascending
economically. Africa is seen an emerging market by many in the global business
community. Moreover, Africa’s youthfulness and its bonanza of its mineral
resources, including hydrocarbons make it truly the continent of the future. However,
Africa rising narrative reminds me of the myth of Icarus and Daedalus.
Daedalus constructed wings, from feathers and
wax, for himself and his son Icarus so they could escape from the Labyrinth in
Crete. Before they set off, Daedalus warned
Icarus not to fly too high lest the sun melt the wax. Overcome by the excitement
of flying, Icarus ignored his father’s warning, flew to close to sun, his wings
melted and he crushed into the sea.
Here is why the Icarus and Daedalus myth is relevant to
Africa. African leaders and the international business community are
overwhelmed by the Africa rising narrative, which is purely based on headline
GDP and the surge in commodity trade. To realize its
potential fully in the long run, Africans needs forge strategic partnerships to
mobilize public and private investments to tackle some of the continent’s most
enduring challenges.
What Africa needs, if it is, to claim to the 21st
century is a solid foundation of human capacity. Africa must lay the foundation
upon which to build world-class human capital for the future by investing
significant budget and planning resources in education and skill building for
the youth, healthcare, affordable housing for a burgeoning urban population, water
and sanitation services for its vast rural population, food and nutrition
security for the hundreds of millions who are hungry and malnourished.
I have always
argued that Africa’s neglected priority challenges will not resolve inevitably,
and in honor of Africa’s meteoric GDP growth. The Ebola emergency has shone a
bright light on Africa’s underlying problem, governance incapacity, which is
manifested in weak and ineffective public institutions. We have work do to.
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