Experts hail inclusive health approach
Baboki Kayawe | Thursday March 5, 2015 18:27
They said moving away from the traditional health methodology to an all-encompassing approach would reduce the public health bill.
This was said by health experts at the national conference on Health in All Policies (HiAP) held in Gaborone yesterday, convened by the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Stakeholders heard that disjointed efforts in addressing social determinants of health have created much fragmentation in the health sphere.
These determinants included shelter, education, unemployment, workplace environment and early childhood development among others as spelt out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2003. Former permanent secretary in the MoH, who is now into consultancy, Dr Edward Maganu, said social determinants of health were conditions in which people were born, lived and worked.
“Social determinants of health are shaped by a very wide set of forces which can be economic, social policies and politics that determine the distribution of resources, money, power at the local, national and global level,” he said.
Maganu said the answer to an integrated health policy lies in the HiAP approach, because social determinants of health were mostly responsible for health inequities. “Health in all policies is crucial to this country because every aspect of government has the potential to affect health and health equity,” Maganu added. A representative from WHO, Moagi Gaborone said the sector was grappling with many issues, therefore could not achieve its mandate in the absence of inter-sectoral collaboration.
“It is our core responsibility, individually and as a collective,” Gaborone said. He added that health was no longer a basic human right but a social good as well. “It is central to ensure an all-government approach to health issues, and to work towards enhancing the health of the nation,” he said.
He recommended health impact assessments and policy audits in order to inform policy briefs with the legislature.
“Reviews on health frameworks are necessary because some were designed ages ago and have since been overtaken by events,” Gaborone said. Acting director in the Department of Public Health, Dr Haruna Jibril said economic and social transitions of recent years have highlighted the need to address the accompanying health challenges. Most of these challenges, he said, were outcomes of decisions and choices made by other sectors as they carry out their mandates and develop the economy.
“These are usually referred to as the social determinants of health as they transcend institutional boundaries and demand collective action, strategic partnerships and alliances,” said Jibril.
The idea of HiAP, he said, came because the health ministry would like to do better in involving other sectors on health.
“Other sectors can contribute to health through their collective efforts by using central or pooled resources,” he said.