Multi-sectoral approach needed to address urban health system gaps – CHORUS

Community-Led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS), Ghana has called for multi-sectoral partnership approach in addressing gaps in the urban health system.

It said issues relating to urban health systems could affect not only development but human growth, hence the need for all hands to get on board and support researchers and health professionals for prompt actions to ensure quick resolution of health gaps.

Dr. Ada Nwameme, Lecturer at the School of Public Health, University of Ghana (UG) and the Lead Researcher of CHORUS made the call at a two-day capacity building workshop for some selected journalists in the southern sector of Ghana as part of measures to advance advocacy, increase awareness and build capacity of its external partners.

CHORUS, Ghana is a multi-country research program consortium (RPC) with focusing on building resilient urban health systems.

It also formed part of a multi-country consortium focused on linking communities, local governments and health workers to support life cycle, health promotion and prevention policies and programmes and services at the household and community levels in urban poor neighbourhoods in Ghana.

The programme aims at undertaking research that responds to the practical challenges of delivering equitable health services in urban areas of four partner countries namely Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal, and Nigeria.

The training was jointly put together by CHORUS and Women, Media, and Change (WOMEC).

She said non-communicable disease burden, the persistent threat of infectious disease outbreaks and an increased risk of violence and injuries raised concern on public health.

Also, it seeks to address issues of high population density, inadequate infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, flooding, pollution, slum creation, crime, congestion and poverty influence on health and disease in the urban context

The Lead Researcher, however, called for critical attention by stakeholders on urban health systems to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8 which focused on achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The UHC goals include financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

Dr Nwameme, noted that despite the global increase in UHC coverage, 30 percent of the world’s population could still not access essential services with about two billion people facing catastrophic or impoverishing health spending.

Inequalities continued to be a fundamental challenge for UHC as aggregated data masked in-country inequalities in service coverage with the COVID-19 pandemic further disrupting services and exacerbating financial hardship and inequities.

Statistically on accommodation, she stated that 61 and 25 percent of Ghanaians were respectively sleeping in one and two rooms, whereas majority lived at the urban areas, a situation if left unresolved could affect development.

The Lead Researcher said issues surrounding urban health systems were multifaceted and could not be limited to health alone but also the economy, human wellbeing, productivity, among others.

Mr Kwadwo Baffoe, the Ashanti Regional Correspondent of Daily Graphic expressed gratitude to the organizers for the insight after the training and called on journalists to increase advocacy on urban health systems for improvement.
All the journalists pledged their commitment to ensure that the goals of CHORUS were achieved through increased and effective advocacy on urban health systems.