Study Data from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Update Understanding of Health Insurance (Expanding surgical access in Africa through improved health insurance schemes: A review): Health Insurance

2024 APR 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New study results on health insurance have been published. According to news reporting originating from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Surgical access remains a pressing public health concern in African nations, with a substantial portion of the population facing challenges in obtaining safe, timely, and affordable surgical care.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology: “This paper delves into the impact of health insurance schemes on surgical accessibility in Africa, exploring the barriers, challenges, and future directions. It highlights how high out-of-pocket costs, reliance on traditional healing practices, and inadequate surgical infrastructure hinder surgical utilization. Financing mechanisms often need to be more effective, and health insurance programs face resistance within the informal sector. Additionally, coverage of the poor remains a fundamental challenge, with geographical and accessibility barriers compounding the issue. Government policies, often marked by inconsistency and insufficient allocation of resources, create further obstacles. However, strategic purchasing and fund integration offer avenues for improving the efficiency of health insurance programs.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The paper concludes by offering policy recommendations, emphasizing the importance of inclusive policies, streamlined financing mechanisms, coverage expansion, and enhanced strategic purchasing to bridge the surgical access gap in Africa. Decoupling entitlement from the payment of contributions, broadening the scope of coverage for outpatient medicines and related expenses, and enhancing safeguards against overall costs and charges, especially for individuals with lower incomes. Ultimately, by addressing these challenges and harnessing the potential of health insurance schemes, the continent can move closer to achieving universal surgical care and improving the well-being of its people.”

For more information on this research see: Expanding surgical access in Africa through improved health insurance schemes: A review. Medicine, 2024,103(11). (Medicine - http://journals.lww.com/md-journal). The publisher for Medicine is Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000037488.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Nicholas Aderinto, Department of Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Additional authors for this research include Gbolahan Olatunji, Emmanuel Kokori, Moradeyo Akanmu Abdulrahmon, Ayodeji Akinmeji, John Oluwasegun Fatoye.

ORCID is an identifier for authors and includes bibliographic information. The following is ORCID information for the author of this research: Nicholas Aderinto (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0004-7389).

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