Establishing A National Public Health Emergency Trust Fund For Ghana: The Time Is Now

SITUATION

Historically, the world has experienced some major influenza pandemics spanning between several decades of internals. The 1918 – 1919 “Spanish Flu”, the 1957 – 1958 “Asian Flu”, the 1969 “Hong Kong Flu” as well as the 2009 – 2010 “Swine Flu”, all led to the loss of millions of lives. In West Africa, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic from 2013 to 2015 also recorded a total reported case of 27,678 with 11,276 accompanying deaths in 10 countries as of 6th July, 2015.

Whilst epidemics and pandemics impacts negatively on the quality of life of people, they also present serious repercussions on national and international economies. The EVD outbreak totally exposed the vulnerability of the health systems of the affected countries as they faced enormous challenges in the containment and management of the epidemic. In economic sense, the 2014 World Bank Projections suggested that, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon lost an estimated $2.2 billion dollars in gross domestic product.

At the time of the epidemic, available information suggests that none of the 10 EVD affected countries had a dedicated national fund for public health emergencies and were all taken by surprise. It took the benevolence of the international community to bring the EVD epidemic to a foregone conclusion in 2015. Today, due to rapid urbanization, increasing travels and, climate change, the world has become more vulnerable to epidemic and pandemic outbreaks, which calls for all countries to strengthen their health systems in order to be more robust and resilient against any possible threats.

BACKGROUND

In the wake of the Novel Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Ghana like many other affected countries around the world have felt the impact of the pandemic on quality of life and socio-economic development. According to worldometer estimates, the global COVID-19 cases stand at 4,815,234 with a total mortality cases of 316,846 (as of 18th May, 2020 at 08:00hrs). In Ghana, the Ghana Health Service surveillance data reports indicates that the country has recorded a total of 5,785 cases with 29 accompanying deaths (as of 18th May, 2020 at 08:00hrs).

The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo Addo, among other measures, announced on Friday, 27th March, 2020 a partial restriction of movement to reduce the spread of the COVID-19. The Government of Ghana had earlier announced the release of an amount of $100 million dollars for Ghana’s COVID-19 response strategy.

ANALYSIS

The global inability to pre-empt the magnitude of the impact of past epidemics and pandemics clearly underlines the absence of effective long-term mechanisms to mitigate the effects of public health emergencies. Within the WHO Africa Region, the African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF) was established in 2009 with an objective to mobilize, manage and disburse additional resources from Member States for providing rapid and effective resources to public health emergencies of national and international concern, including epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases, the health impact of natural and man-made diseases and humanitarian crises This suggests that the APHEF was firmly in place before the on-set of the EVD epidemic, however, the epidemic went ahead to wreck havoc on the health systems and economies of the 10 affected countries. This therefore supports the argument that countries must have in place a nationally institutionalized funding mechanism to serve as the first point of access to resources for combating public health emergencies. This could be completed by regional and global funding sources in the medium to long-run.

The prevention and control of epidemics and pandemics requires among other things, a dedicated fully-functional funding mechanism to support basic and applied research that will influence continuous capacity building, acquiring appropriate infrastructure and logistical supplies against future threats. Having a dedicated funding mechanism for public health emergencies also allows for focus to be placed on addressing the key determinants of health for better health outcomes for all. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Ghana has announced the establishment of a COVID-19 National Trust Fund to mobilize resources to complement the efforts being made by the State in the fight against the pandemic. Looking at the peculiarity of public health emergencies and its impact on quality of life and the economy, a strong call is being made to elevate the COVID-19 National Trust Fund to a fully functional National Public Health Emergency Trust Fund to fully prepare the country against future public health threats.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Elevate the CoVID-19 National Trust Fund to a National Public Health Emergency Fund

2. Take necessary steps to legislate the National Public Health Emergency Fund into law to make it legally binding

3. Develop appropriate sustainable plans for the Trust Fund

4. Develop appropriate mechanisms to ensure accountability