Save the Children wants government to work towards permanently removing fees after temporary waiver ends
DAKAR (AlertNet) - A temporary move by the Ivory Coast government to make health services free in the aftermath of the country’s post-electoral unrest has expired, but aid agencies are urging the West African nation to extend the waiver and work towards permanently removing healthcare user fees.
No formal announcement has been made by the Ivorian authorities on whether they are going to extend this temporary measure.
Waiving health user fees enabled thousands of poor people to get treatment in a country where there is no national health insurance scheme and patients must pay up-front in cash.
"The incredible demand for healthcare services we have seen in the last weeks proves how much Ivorians have suffered and continue to suffer," Guy Cave, Save the Children’s country director for Ivory Coast, said in a statement.
"The Ivorian government should exempt vulnerable people, including children and pregnant women, from paying for access to health services, and work toward universal healthcare in the long-run," Cave said.
More than one million Ivorians were uprooted from their homes during five months of violence that erupted after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to President Alassane Ouattara, who won November’s presidential election according to U.N.-certified results.
The post-election violence disrupted the delivery of health services as several doctors fled and abandoned medical facilities, while emergency medicine and drug supplies were short.
Aid agencies asking for an extension of the waiver’s timeframe say many of the uprooted persons lost their sources of income during the crisis and cannot afford to pay for healthcare, and so cannot get treatment.
Save the Children argues that user fees are a barrier preventing people from seeking medical care both in times of crisis and peace. It is urging the Ivory Coast government to start establishing a free healthcare system as is the case in some African countries such as Sierra Leone, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia – which offer partial or totally free access to primary healthcare.
The aid group also urged donor governments to provide financial and technical assistance for the initial set-up of free healthcare, and long-term support to make such a system self-sustainable.
“With free universal access to healthcare in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), the government would build a healthier nation,” Ina Bluemel, Save the Children’s health coordinator in Ivory Coast, said.
“However, it is not something that changes overnight,” she added in a statement.
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