Gender and therapeutic pluralism: women access to private health sector in Africa
The main goal of this project is to enlighten the role of the private health sector in selected African countries emphasizing the access of women to health care. We consider that women are the more sensible sector of the population to the international macro-economic decisions that lead to the development of the private health sector in countries dependent of external aid. A more detailed knowledge of health care options for women and of their choices in this sector is essential for the implementation of an effective health strategy coordinating both public health planning and the heterogeneous private sector.
The question of the implementation of the private sector in Africa is mainly about development policies, about the population access to basic health care and poverty reduction, about medical pluralism, about access to commodities and essential goods, about human rights, about cultural creation and about the globalized market. The private health sector in Africa refers to a heterogeneous field of operation that comprises the action of nonprofit organizations such as NGOs and associations, and profit institutions that stand from private clinics and medicine sellers to traditional therapists. This sector has been developing in Sub-Saharan Africa on the aftermath of the local governments progressive abandon of the public health programs following the imposition of the Structural Adjustment Plans of the late eighties and nineties. It is estimated that more than a half of the health investment in the continent comes from the private sector, even if there are strong disparities between the different African countries (Ghatak, Hazlewood & Lee, 2008). \n Structural adjustment’s effect on women differs from its effect on men, as the later are more often remunerated and women have to ensure the household survival (Pfeiffer, Gimbel-Sherr & Augusto, 2007). Women vulnerability is increasing under privatization of health care (Turshen, 1999). WHO have long recogniz...
Project Information
2010-06-01
2013-12-31
Project Partners