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Health Financing and Insurance in Africa

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Abstract

Nations fund healthcare in various ways. Both the individual and society play fundamental roles in financing health management. Healthcare expenditure often constitutes a substantial part of the national budget. Among the most important factors in health financing is health insurance. Health insurance remains the primary source of healthcare funding, and its accessibility is directly correlated to national health. Insurance, however, remains at odds with certain models of Universal Health Care (UHC) , and issues of affordability and financial protection have been central in attempts to secure UHC in Africa. Despite the numerous benefits, national health insurance in developing African countries faces several challenges and it is evident that health insurance does not cover large proportions of many populations and nations in Africa. This chapter starts with a review of the state of health financing in Africa and explains the role of health insurance, which often involves pooling risks with others in order to diffuse the cost of healthcare. This chapter discusses the types of health insurance in Africa (social, private for-profit, private-non-profit and community-based health insurance (CBHI)), and their unique benefits and drawbacks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Department of Sociology, Sokoto, Nigeria

    Jimoh Amzat

  2. Fak. Gesundheitswissenschaften, Universität Bielefeld Fak. Gesundheitswissenschaften, Bielefeld, Germany

    Oliver Razum

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  1. Jimoh Amzat
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  2. Oliver Razum
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Correspondence to Jimoh Amzat or Oliver Razum .

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Amzat, J., Razum, O. (2018). Health Financing and Insurance in Africa. In: Towards a Sociology of Health Discourse in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61672-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61672-8_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61671-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61672-8

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