In African countries, where health concerns are frequently exacerbated by economic challenges, the repercussions of inadequate healthcare can be disastrous, hurting all aspects of national development.
Ensuring healthy living and fostering well-being for people of all ages is the main objective of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3).
Among its many goals include lowering maternal mortality, putting a stop to diseases like AIDS and malaria, guaranteeing universal access to healthcare, and advancing mental health.
A poor SDG 3 ranking is strongly related to economic stagnation.
Poor health outcomes raise out-of-pocket spending for families, pushing many into poverty.
On a national scale, governments in nations with inadequate healthcare systems confront rising healthcare expenses while losing the potential economic benefits of a healthy workforce.
Furthermore, a badly functioning healthcare system discourages foreign investment, since investors are hesitant to operate in areas with significant health risks and restricted access to competent medical treatment.
Instead of being a single global index, the “SDG 3 score” is a metric that is given to specific nations according to how well they are doing at reaching the objectives.
Every year, several organizations rate and evaluate nations in their Sustainable Development Report, including the Financing Africa report, by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
With that said, here are the African countries with the worst healthcare systems, as per their SDG 3 index in the aforementioned report.
The lower the SDG 3 index, the weaker the health care system.
Top 10 African countries with the most health concerns
| Rank | Country | SDG 3 index |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Central Africa Republic | 13.0 |
| 2. | Somalia | 17.9 |
| 3. | South Sudan | 23.9 |
| 4. | Lesotho | 24.3 |
| 5. | Chad | 27.1 |
| 6. | Mozambique | 31.7 |
| 7. | Guinea | 32.3 |
| 8. | Liberia | 32.8 |
| 9. | Madagascar | 32.9 |
| 10. | Democratic Republic of Congo | 34.2 |
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