Publication: World Bank study : A Health Sector in Transition to Universal Coverage in Ghana
Loading...
Date
2012-01-01
ISSN
Published
2012-01-01
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Ghana has come a long way in improving health outcomes and it performs reasonably well when compared to the other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, when its health outcomes are compared to other countries globally with similar incomes and health spending levels, its performance is more mixed. Ghana's health outcome performances, in terms of child health and maternal health, are worse than the levels found in other comparable lower middle income and health spending countries, but life expectancy is better. Ghana's demographic profile is changing, and demographic, epidemiological, and nutrition transitions are well underway. The dependency ratio is expected to be favorably affected by the expanding large numbers of individuals entering the labor force, while fertility albeit still high continues to decline. It is the right time for Ghana to take advantage of this potential demographic dividend. Taking appropriate steps to improve employment opportunities is critical or else the country will face economic pressures as well as political unrest. There is a funding shortage for public health goods. Many public health goods, such as immunization and family planning, are generally heavily subsidized, with tax or donor financing. However, Ghana has a low allocation of public funds to meet the demands for family planning commodities. The private sector has responded somewhat to this market failure by selling family planning commodities in private pharmacies, thereby increasing supply. Morbidity and mortality from communicable disease (CD) are highly prevalent in Ghana, and make up fifty three percent of the disease burden. Although, cost-effective interventions are offered, a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality is still CD related.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Saleh, Karima. 2012. World Bank study : A Health Sector in Transition to Universal Coverage in Ghana. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2728 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Bangladesh Health Sector Profile 2010(Washington, DC, 2010-01)This health sector profile is a description of the health sector in Bangladesh, including its structure, resources, services, performance and dynamics. This document provides an overview of the sector, based on publicly available reports and data. The document intends to help the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and its partners to agree on the way forward and its respective roles in the process. It is neither an evaluation nor a programme review, rather it draws and extracts from these key documents to describe how the system works. Chapters one and two provide an overview on the health status of the people of Bangladesh and the determinants of health. Chapters three to eight summarise relevant aspects of the six health systems building blocks: the overall organisation of the health sector including governance and leadership; health services; human resources; information; financing; and medicines. Chapter nine summarises system reform aspects in the Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP) and work leading to the new draft national health policy. The annex provides a list of people consulted. The focus of the health sector profile is to describe how the sector works rather than how it should, or what has not happened in the past. The document offers no recommendations of its own in an attempt to leave open space for dialogue. To best serve this purpose, the profile describes all building blocks rather than only those areas where data and information are available. The expectation is that the profile will be updated periodically to fill existing gaps and reflect changes in the sector over time.Publication Health, Nutrition, and Population in Madagascar 2000-09(World Bank, 2011-07-05)With an income per capita US$400 in 2008, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty is widespread but with significant urban-rural differences (52 percent versus 74 percent). Health, nutrition, and the fight against communicable diseases and HIV/AIDS are key goals of the country's poverty reduction strategy, the Madagascar Action Plan 2007-2012. The National Health Sector and Social Protection Development Plan 2007-2011 was developed to strengthen the health system and improve service delivery to reduce neonatal, child and maternal mortality, address malnutrition and control communicable illnesses. The health sector has benefited from increasing investment over the last years, and a number of studies and surveys have been carried out, providing a wealth of information that is yet to be analyzed in a complementary way. This Country Status Report (CSR) seeks to capitalize on all of the existing data in the health sector, compare Madagascar to countries of similar income levels and assess the results achieved by the health system. The CSR provides an analysis of the population's health and nutrition status by linking health outcomes, household/individual behaviors, community factors, government interventions, and service provision. Although Madagascar is performing beer than the SSA average of 645 per 100,000 live births, the maternal mortality rate has stagnated over the last decade and in 2008/09 was estimated at 498. Health care seeking behavior for preventive child health services at the health facility level is improving. Complete immunization coverage stands at 62 percent in 2008 (for children 12 to 23 months), but there are still large differences in coverage across regions, place of residence, and income groups.Publication Maternal Health, Child Health and Nutrition in Lao PDR : Evidence from a Household Survey in Six Central and Southern Provinces(Washington, DC, 2013-06)Despite being on-track on the child- and maternal-health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Lao PDR continues to have some of the worst maternal and child health (MCH) and nutrition outcome indicators, both globally as well as in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. This report presents results from a household, village, and facility survey on Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and nutrition in mostly rural areas of six central and southern provinces of Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The information in this report localizes MCH and nutrition-related information that are typical for sampled catchment areas of selected health centers in six central and southern provinces of the country. In addition, the report summarizes data on service availability and readiness of health centers in terms of their ability to provide key MCH & nutrition-related services. The results from this survey thus shed light on what it would take to attain the health-related MDGs. In order to improve the level and equity of maternal and child health indicators, interventions would need to address numerous demand-side barriers, including physical access barriers, financial barriers, and cultural, linguistic, and educational barriers.Publication Health Financing in Vanuatu : Challenges and Options(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-06)Population growth, an unfinished agenda of communicable diseases and maternal health and nutrition, and the rapid rise of Non-communicable diseases are putting increasing strain on not just the Ministry of Health budget, but also the broader financial position of the government as a whole. These pressures are ultimately financially unsustainable, given current and projected future economic conditions. But many of the health burdens and costs can be avoided, or at least delayed, with good primary and secondary prevention. There are practical options for making health financing in Vanuatu more effective, efficient, equitable, affordable, and accountable. Improving efficiency of public expenditure is a key to achieving this.Publication Capacity Assessment of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Angola(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06)The World Bank commissioned a capacity assessment study of the Ministry of Health (MOH) that was undertaken in March 2006. The terms of reference covered the following areas: Identify the existing analytical work being done by other donors in the health field and summarize their terms of reference and main conclusions; assess the MOH capacity to implement health policies and strategies adopted by the government; assess the MOH capacity to implement projects financed by the Bank, the Global fund, EU and others focusing the analysis on the MOH capacity for policy formulation, mobilization of funds, and program implementation; assess the capacity at central, provincial and municipal level in (i) program management, (ii) service delivery, including the number and distribution of staff; analyze the decision making process and the incentives for decision making including how much the system is centralized or decentralized; analyze the existing stock of health professionals including the MOH and military, identifying key constraints and gaps in capacity, government plans to increase capacity; existing training institutions and their capacity to produce new professionals and follow-up training; propose options for short term and long-term interventions including training managers, training of doctors and nurses, recruitment, on-job-training, review of curricula and other; make cost estimates of short term capacity building interventions that could be financed by the Bank and other donors; and identify future work that may be needed to undertake deeper or follow-up analysis.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.