Publication: Playing Broken Telephone : Assessing Faith-inspired Health Care Provision in Africa
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Date
2012-07-05
ISSN
0961-4524
Published
2012-07-05
Author(s)
Olivier, Jill
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Abstract
In the literature on the religious contribution to health and development, it is commonly stated that faith-inspired institutions (FIIs) provide from 30 to 70 per cent of all health care provision in Africa. This article tracks the sources of such statements back to the 1960s, highlighting a process of ‘broken telephone’ whereby estimates are passed on and frequently distorted by policy- and advocacy-oriented influences at both the national and international levels. This demonstrates how estimates are being wielded bluntly, often resulting in poorly substantiated claims to the detriment of more careful research, thereby weakening the empirical knowledge-base and improved practice.
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Publication The Comparative Nature of Faith-Inspired Health Care Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa : Strengthening the Evidence for Faith-inspired Health Engagement in Africa, Volume 2(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11-01)This role of faith-inspired health care providers in sub-saharan Africa and public-private partnerships is comprised of a three volume series on strengthening the evidence for faith inspired engagement in health in sub-Saharan Africa. An increasing level of interest in the role of faith in development has generated much debate and dialogue at the international and national levels over the last decade. Despite difficulties in communication and differences in cultures within such debates, there has been a continued reaffirmation of the potential benefits that faith-inspired communities can bring towards efforts to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially in the areas of health. This series focuses on assessing the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and on assessing the extent to which they are involved in and benefit from public-private partnerships. The purpose of this series of three HNP discussion papers is to round up various analytical perspectives and emerging research on faith engagement in health in Africa from a range of researchers and practitioners from the north as well as the south. The series is structured into three volumes: a first volume on the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and public-private partnerships, a second on satisfaction and the comparative nature of faith-inspired health provision, and the third on mapping of faith inspired provision and the extent to which faith-inspired providers reach to the poor.Publication The Role of Faith-inspired Health Care Providers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Public-Private Partnerships : Strengthening the Evidence for Faith-inspired Health Engagement in Africa, Volume 1(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11)This role of faith-inspired health care providers in sub-saharan Africa and public-private partnerships is comprised of a three volume series on strengthening the evidence for faith inspired engagement in health in sub-Saharan Africa. An increasing level of interest in the role of faith in development has generated much debate and dialogue at the international and national levels over the last decade. Despite difficulties in communication and differences in cultures within such debates, there has been a continued reaffirmation of the potential benefits that faith-inspired communities can bring towards efforts to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially in the areas of health. This series focuses on assessing the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and on assessing the extent to which they are involved in and benefit from public-private partnerships. The purpose of this series of three HNP discussion papers is to round up various analytical perspectives and emerging research on faith engagement in health in Africa from a range of researchers and practitioners from the north as well as the south. The series is structured into three volumes: a first volume on the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and public-private partnerships, a second on satisfaction and the comparative nature of faith-inspired health provision, and the third on mapping of faith inspired provision and the extent to which faith-inspired providers reach to the poor.Publication Mapping, Cost, and Reach to the Poor of Faith-inspired Health Care Providers in Sub-Saharan Africa : Strengthening the Evidence for Faith-inspired Health Engagement in Africa, Volume 3(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11)This role of faith-inspired health care providers in sub-saharan Africa and public-private partnerships is comprised of a three volume series on strengthening the evidence for faith inspired engagement in health in sub-Saharan Africa. An increasing level of interest in the role of faith in development has generated much debate and dialogue at the international and national levels over the last decade. Despite difficulties in communication and differences in cultures within such debates, there has been a continued reaffirmation of the potential benefits that faith-inspired communities can bring towards efforts to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially in the areas of health. This series focuses on assessing the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and on assessing the extent to which they are involved in and benefit from public-private partnerships. The purpose of this series is three HNP discussion papers is to round up various analytical perspectives and emerging research on faith engagement in health in Africa from a range of researchers and practitioners from the north as well as the south. The series is structured into three volumes: a first volume on the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and public-private partnerships, a second on satisfaction and the comparative nature of faith-inspired health provision, and the third on mapping of faith inspired provision and the extent to which faith-inspired providers reach to the poor.Publication Faith-Inspired Health Care Provision in Ghana : Market Share, Reach to the Poor, and Performance(Taylor and Francis, 2014-03-12)It is commonly accepted that faith-inspired institutions (FIIs) provide a substantial share of health services in sub-Saharan Africa. To substantiate this perception, one would ideally like to have a comprehensive assessment of the scope and scale of all health-related services provided not only by government facilities and faith-inspired providers, but also by private-for-profit providers and other non-religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations and initiatives—including categorization according to primary areas of response such as HIV/AIDs. Such comprehensive overviews are unfortunately not currently available. It is nevertheless possible to take one (partial) step towards such comprehensive assessments in specific countries by comparing and interpreting the market share estimates for the health care services provided by various types of providers obtained with both facilities and household survey data, and to measure the facilities’ “reach to the poor” (understood here as a comparative market share assessment of various types of providers among segments of the population according to their level of well-being, and especially among the poor). In addition, qualitative work can help reveal the reasons why patients tend to choose one type of provider versus another. The objective of this article is to do precisely this in the case of Ghana.Publication Market Share of Faith-Inspired Health Care Providers : Reach to the Poor in Africa(Taylor and Francis, 2014-03-12)Market share estimates—typically in the 30 percent to 40 percent range—are frequently wielded as the most concrete evidence of faith-inspired activity and impact in the area of health care provision in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, there are few speeches, reports, or articles that do not make some mention of market share, attaching some percentage to the significance of faith-inspired healthcare provision in the continent as a whole, or in specific countries. Such statements usually appear in the early stages of a text, and are the basis on which a further argument is made, for example that this sector therefore requires further attention or resources from governments and donors. A systematic review of this literature reveals that these statements have currently reached the point of becoming almost indisputable “truth,” as they are now frequently made without any referencing.
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