THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD) AND THE NEW CHALLENGES FOR HEALTH GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA

 

Oluwatobi Njoaguani¹*, Sheriff F. Folarin²

¹Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Covenant University, NIGERIA, oluwatobi.babatunde@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

 ² Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Covenant University, NIGERIA, sheriff.folarin@covenantuniveristy.edu.ng

*Corresponding author

 

Abstract

The outbreak of the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in some countries in West Africa indicated some gaps in health system governance in Africa. Over six years since the 2014 epidemic, there are still many lessons to be learnt in a bid to contain the virus in some recent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Perhaps a restructuring of the health system is necessary. Gaps exist in health governance at the national and regional levels. There have been calls for a strengthening of the health systems in Africa by multi-sectoral partnerships to improve the six subsystems including health governance, service delivery, health workforce, health information, access to medicines and health financing. There is also a need to build regional capacities in improving early warning systems, case detection and prevention. This paper proposes a new structure for health system governance for Africa at both national and regional levels. It recommends on the kinds of diplomacy and collaboration that should be channeled in a bid to manage health emergencies in Africa. The proposition for the study is that more health governance at the regional level be sought and established. It highlights the benefits and the challenges of this new health order in Africa. An ex post facto research design is used to make inferences from the 2014 outbreak and prescribe a new governance structure for the health of Africa. This design involves a critical review of reports and other literature on the 2014 outbreak, which is undoubtedly the largest and deadliest of all EVD outbreaks.

Keywords: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Africa, Regionalism, Regional Integration, Health Governance, Health policy