For a shift of paradigm in healthcare systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Moving from current unequal access to modern care to sustainable health systems encompassing African traditional medicine

Abstract

Background: Health is one of the major challenges for the development of Africa, whether it is to improve the current state of health of Africans or to allow the emergence of a healthy workforce able to contribute to the economic growth of Africa. Objectives: This paper aims to highlighting gaps in access to modern care, to identify attraction factors for traditional African medicine helping with the current health crisis due to Covid-19, to propose ways of uilding synergies and to encourage more efficient and consistent health systems. Methods: We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We evaluated sources of heterogeneity by keywords (health system, health care providers, Africa, diseases), and pooled heterogeneity analysis addressed by authors, using meta-analysis methods. Results: With Covid-19, African health systems have been less overwhelmed and health consequences less dramatic than those of European and American countries, but the pandemic has exposed the flaws of health systems that have reached their limits. Conclusion: Because health is one of the relatively neglected challenges in development policies in Africa and because health will become a strategic development issue in the coming years, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to re-think the organization and functioning of health systems in Africa.