A check-up for an HIV-free baby at Hope Through Health’s main clinic
Recent disasters, such as ebola in West Africa and the earthquake in Nepal, have tried and tested the primary health care infrastructure in these regions, showing them to be under-resourced and unprepared to deliver necessary health services. In their recent article, “It’s time to better understand what makes primary health care work,” Dana Hovig et al. discuss how the lack of information to guide improvements in primary health care prevents these systems from improving, and importantly, coping when disaster strikes.
Some countries, such as Rwanda, are making major strides to fortify their health care systems, but the lack of information on whether and why their systems are improving creates a serious roadblock to improvement. The importance of proper collection and dissemination of data was emphasized in the recent Millennium Development Goals report, and will be addressed this fall when the UN ratifies a new agenda for sustainable development for the next 15 years. Without accessible and comprehensive primary health care, a nation can not be expected to make sustainable gains in health.
Hope Through Health understands the importance of health care systems strengthening and we continue to work with AED-Lidaw and the Togolese Ministry of Health to fortify these systems in Togo. Availability of quality care both in times of relative calm and during a possible emergency will help us reach our ultimate goal of improving health outcomes for Togolese citizens!
See the full text of the article here.