Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 4/2016

Open Access 01-07-2016 | Debate

Space and place for WHO health development dialogues in the African Region

Authors: Joses Muthuri Kirigia, Juliet Nabyonga-Orem, Delanyo Yao Tsidi Dovlo

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Special Issue 4/2016

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Majority of the countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region are not on track to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals, yet even more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 on heath, have been adopted. This paper highlights the challenges - amplified by the recent Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa - that require WHO and other partners’ dialogue in support of the countries, and debate on how WHO can leverage the existing space and place to foster health development dialogues in the Region.

Discussion

To realise SDG 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, the African Region needs to tackle the persistent weaknesses in its health systems, systems that address the social determinants of health and national health research systems. The performance of the third item is crucial for the development and innovation of systems, products and tools for promoting, maintaining and restoring health in an equitable manner.
Under its new leadership, the WHO Regional Office for Africa is transforming itself to galvanise existing partnerships, as well as forging new ones, with a view to accelerating the provision of timely and quality support to the countries in pursuit of SDG 3. WHO in the African Region engages in dialogues with various stakeholders in the process of health development. The EVD outbreak in West Africa accentuated the necessity for optimally exploiting currently available space and place for health development discourse. There is urgent need for the WHO Regional Office for Africa to fully leverage the space and place arenas of the World Health Assembly, WHO Regional Committee for Africa, African Union, Regional economic communities, Harmonization for Health in Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Development Bank, professional associations, and WHO African Health Forum, when it is created, for dialogues to mobilise the required resources to give the African Region the thrust it needs to attain SDG 3.

Conclusions

The pursuit of SDG 3 amidst multiple challenges related to political leadership and governance, weak health systems, sub-optimal systems for addressing the socioeconomic determinants of health, and weak national health research systems calls for optimum use of all the space and place available for regional health development dialogues to supplement Member States’ efforts.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
UN. Report of the open working group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals. Document A/68/970, New York: United Nations; 2014.
2.
WHO. World health statistics 2015. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
3.
WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO). Progress on health-related Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 health development agenda. Document AFR/RC65/4. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2015.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Elliott JE. Adam Smith’s conceptualization of power, markets, and politics. Rev Soc Econ. 2000;58(4):429–54.CrossRef
11.
Diamantopoulos A. Vertical quasi-integration revisited: the role of power. Manag Decis Econ. 1987;8(3):185–94.CrossRef
12.
Hofstede G, Boddewyn JJ. Power in organizations. Introduction. Int Stud Manage Organ. 1977;7(1):3–6.CrossRef
13.
Warren DI. Power, visibility, and conformity in formal organizations. Am Sociol Rev. 1968;33(6):951–70.CrossRef
14.
Goldhamer H, Shils EA. Types of power and status. Am J Sociol. 1939;45(2):171–82.CrossRef
15.
Gaventa J. Finding the spaces for change: a power analysis. ISD Bulletin. 2006;37(6):23–33.
16.
Odinkalu CA. Back to the future: the imperative of prioritizing for the protection of human rights in Africa. J Afr Law. 2003;47(1):1–37.CrossRef
17.
Olivier de Sardan JP. A moral economy of corruption in Africa? J Mod Afr Stud. 1999;37(1):25–52.CrossRef
18.
Lawson L. The politics of anti-corruption reform in Africa. J Mod Afr Stud. 2009;47(1):73–100.CrossRef
19.
Transparency International. Corruption Perceptions Index 2015. London: Transparency International; 2015.
20.
Mo Ibrahim Foundation. The 2015 Ibrahim Index of the African Governance: Key findings. London: Mo Ibrahim Foundation; 2015.
21.
Rotberg RI. Governance and leadership in Africa: measures, methods and results. J Int Aff. 2009;62(2):113–26.
22.
Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems. More money for health, and more health for the money. Final report. Geneva: International Health Partnership; 2009.
23.
24.
25.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Health inequities in the African Region of the World Health Organization. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2010.
26.
Kirigia DG, Kirigia JM. Inequalities in selected health-related Millennium Development Goals indicators in all WHO Member States. Afr J Health Sci. 2007;4(3–4):171–86.
27.
WHO. The world health report: health systems financing – the path to universal coverage. Geneva: WHO; 2010.
28.
Kirigia JM. Efficiency of health system units in Africa: a data envelopment analysis. Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press; 2013.
29.
Kirigia JM, Diarra-Nama AJ. Can countries of the WHO African Region wean themselves off donor funding for health? Bull World Health Organ. 2008;86(11):889–95.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
30.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. A strategy for addressing the key determinants of health in the African Region. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2010.
31.
WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Final Report of the Commission. Geneva: WHO; 2008.
32.
World Bank. Stocktaking of the housing sector in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2015.
33.
34.
35.
Nabyonga-Orem J. Diffusion of evidence into public health policies and practice: investigating the black box. Brussels: Institut de recherché sante et societe (IRSS), UCL; 2015.
36.
Mbondji PE, Kebede D, Zielinski C, Kouvividila W, Sanou I, Lusamba-Dikassa P-M. Overview of national health research systems in sub-Saharan African countries: results of a questionnaire-based survey. J R Soc Med. 2014;107 Suppl 1:46–54.CrossRefPubMed
37.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak: Lessons learnt and way forward. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2015.
38.
Lindseth A. Being ill as an inevitable life topic possibilities of philosophical practice in health care and psychotherapy. Philos Pract. 2012;7(3):1081–96.
39.
WHO. WHO reform for a healthy future: an overview. Geneva: WHO; 2011.
40.
41.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Guidelines for developing national health policies and plans. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2005.
42.
Oxford University Press. Concise Oxford Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 395.
43.
44.
Curtis S, Jones IR. Is there a place for geography in the analysis of health inequality? Sociol Health Illn. 1998;20(5):645–72.CrossRef
45.
Tuan Y-F. Place. The perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press; 1977.
46.
Harvey D. Between space and the geographical imagination. Ann Assoc Am Geogr. 1990;80(3):418–34.CrossRef
47.
Agnew AJ. Chapter 23: Space and place. In: Agnew AJ, Livingstone ND, editors. The SAGE Handbook of geographical knowledge. London: Sage; 2011. p. 316–30.CrossRef
48.
Heidegger M. Poetry, language, thought. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.; 1971.
49.
WHO. Constitution of the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO; 1948.
50.
UN. United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: UN; 1948.
51.
WHO. Basic documents. Forty-eighth edition. Geneva: WHO; 2014.
52.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Review of the membership and terms of reference of the Programme Subcommittee. Document AFR/RC57/12. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2007.
53.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Rules of procedure of the Regional Committee for Africa. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2013.
54.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Terms of reference of the meetings of the African delegates during the World Health Assembly. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2007.
55.
56.
57.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. A compendium of public health strategies. Volume 1. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2012.
58.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Ouagadougou Declaration on Primary Health Care and Health Systems in Africa: Achieving better health for Africa in the new millennium. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2008.
59.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The Algiers Declaration on Research for Health in the African Region. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2008.
60.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The Brazzaville Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and Control in the WHO African Region. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2011.
61.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment in Africa. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2008.
62.
OAU. Sirte Declaration. Addis Ababa: OAU; 1999.
63.
AU. The Durban Declaration in Tribute to the Organization of African Unity and on the launching of the African Union. Second Assembly of the African Union First Ordinary Session, 9–10 July 2002, Durban, South Africa ASS/AU/Draft/Decl. 2 (I). Addis Ababa: AU; 2002.
64.
AU. Constitutive Act of the African Union. Addis Ababa: AU; 2002.
65.
AU. African Union Handbook 2015. Addis Ababa: African Union Commission and New Zealand Crown; 2015.
66.
WHO. Agreement between the Commission of the African Union and the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO; 2012.
67.
WHO and AUC. Report of the First African Ministers of Health Meeting jointly convened by WHO and the AUC. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2014.
68.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Road map for accelerating the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to maternal and newborn health. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2004.
69.
AU: Plan of action towards ending prefentable maternal, newborn and childhood deaths. First African Union International Conférence on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Addis Ababa: AU; 2013.
70.
71.
AU. Actions on maternal, newborn and child health and development in Africa by 2015. Doc. Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XV). Assembly of the Union Fifteenth Ordinary Session, 25–27 July 2010, Kampala, Uganda. Addis Abba: AU; 2010.
72.
United Nations Population Fund. Maternal and newborn health national plans (road map) assessment report. New York: United Nations Population Fund; 2009.
73.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The African Public Health Emergency Fund. Resolution AFR/RC60/R5 of the Sixtieth session of WHO Regional Committee for Africa, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, 30 August–3 September 2010. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2010.
74.
AU. Decision on the Establishment of the African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF). Doc. Assembly/AU/18(XIX) Add.4. Assembly of the Union Nineteenth Ordinary Session, 15–16 July 2012 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: AU; 2012.
75.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The African Public Health Emergency Fund: Stocktaking. Doc. AFR/RC65/9. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2015.
76.
East African Community (EAC). East African Community Treaty, 1999. Arusha: EAC; 1999.
77.
78.
79.
80.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Report of the Regional Taskforce on Prevention and Control of Substandard/Spurious/Falsely Labelled/Falsified/Counterfeit Medical Products in the WHO African Region. Doc. AFR/RC60/16. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2010.
81.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Local production of essential medicines, including antiretrovirals: Issues, challenges and perspectives in the African Region. Doc. AFR/RC55/10. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2005.
82.
United Nations Development Programme. Regional integration and human development: A pathway for Africa. New York; 2011.
83.
84.
OECD. Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Paris: OECD; 2005.
85.
OECD. Accra Agenda for Action. Paris: OECD; 2008.
86.
Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA). Operational guide. Brazzaville: HHA; 2006.
87.
Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA). Tunis Declaration on Value for Money, Sustainability and Accountability in the Health Sector. A joint declaration by the ministers of finance and ministers of health of Africa, 5 July 2012. Brazzaville; 2012.
88.
United Nations. General Assembly Session 12 resolution 1155. Proposed Economic Commission for Africa A/RES/1155(XII), 26 November 1957. New York; 1957.
89.
United Nations. United Nations Economic and Social Council 1017th Session. Resolution E/RES/671 A (XXV). Establishment of an Economic Commission for Africa of 29 April 1958. New York; 1958.
90.
91.
Africa Progress Panel. Africa Progress Report 2015. Geneva: Africa Progress Panel; 2015.
92.
OAU. Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other Related Infectious Diseases. AHG/228 (XXXVII). Addis Ababa: OAU; 2001.
93.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. The regional strategic plan for the Expanded Programme on Immunization 2006–2009. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R1. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
94.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Child survival: A strategy for the African Region. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R2. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
95.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. HIV prevention in the African Region: A strategy for renewal and acceleration. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R3. Fifty‐sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
96.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Poverty, trade and health: An emerging health development issue. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R4. Fifty‐sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
97.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Health financing: A strategy for the African Region. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R5. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
98.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Revitalizing health services using the primary health care approach in the African Region. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R6. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
99.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Avian influenza: Preparedness and response to the threat of a pandemic. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R7. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
100.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Knowledge management in the WHO African Region: Strategic directions. RC56 resolution AFR/RC56/R8. Fifty-sixth session, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 August–1 September 2006. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2006.
101.
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Bank and WHO. The Addis Ababa Declaration on Community Health in the African Region. Addis Ababa, 20–22 November 2006. Brazzaville: WHO Regional Office for Africa; 2006.
102.
Economic Commission for Africa, WHO. Memorandum of agreement concerning the cooperation between the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO; 1980.
103.
Economic Commission for Africa, WHO Regional Office for Africa and WHO/WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Memorandum of understanding between the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Health Organization/Regional Office for Africa/Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Geneva: WHO; 2002.
104.
105.
African Development Bank, African Development Fund and World Health Organization. Cooperation agreement between the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund and the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO; 1994.
106.
WHO and AfDB. Trust instrument between the Special Health Fund for Africa and the African Development Bank concerning the administration and management of the financial resources of the special health fund for Africa. Brazzaville: WHO Regional Office for Africa; 1993.
107.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa: Update and lessons learnt. RC64 doc. AFR/RC64/9. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2014.
108.
109.
110.
African Federation of Public Health Associations. AFPHA Newsletter. 27 November 2014. Addis Ababa: AFPHA; 2014.
111.
112.
AFOG. Strategic plan 2015–2020. Abuja. 2015.
113.
114.
FIGO. Keeping FIGO’s vision and mission on track in new era of Sustainable Development Goals. May 2015 Newsletter. Rome: FIGO; 2015.
115.
116.
Gostin LO, Friedman E. Ebola: a crisis in global health leadership. Lancet. 2014;384(9951):1323–5.CrossRefPubMed
117.
118.
119.
120.
WHO. Report of the Ebola Interim Assessment Panel. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
121.
WHO. WHO Secretariat response to the Report of the Ebola Interim Assessment Panel. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
122.
World Health Organization. Executive Board Special Session on the Ebola Emergency Resolution EBSS/3/2015/REC/1, Ebola: ending the current outbreak, strengthening global preparedness and ensuring WHO’s capacity to prepare for and respond to future large-scale outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
123.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Transformation Agenda. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2015.
124.
WHO Regional Office for Africa. Africa Health Transformation Programme 2015–2020: A vision for universal health coverage. Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2015.
125.
126.
Rajan D, Adam T, El Husseiny D, Porignon D, Ghaffar A, Schmets G. Policy dialogue: what it is and how it can contribute to evidence-informed decision-making. Briefing Note. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
Metadata
Title
Space and place for WHO health development dialogues in the African Region
Authors
Joses Muthuri Kirigia
Juliet Nabyonga-Orem
Delanyo Yao Tsidi Dovlo
Publication date
01-07-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue Special Issue 4/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1452-0

Other articles of this Special Issue 4/2016

BMC Health Services Research 4/2016 Go to the issue

Introduction

Health policy dialogue: experiences from Africa

Research

Coordination of the health policy dialogue process in Guinea: pre- and post-Ebola

Research

Perspectives on health policy dialogue: definition, perceived importance and coordination

Debate

Global Forum 2015 dialogue on “From evidence to policy – thinking outside the box”: perspectives to improve evidence uptake and good practices in the African Region

Research

Global health initiatives in Africa – governance, priorities, harmonisation and alignment

Research

Assessing policy dialogues and the role of context: Liberian case study before and during the Ebola outbreak