the future of medicine on the continent

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WaZoBia

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what do you guys think about the future of medicine on the continent? i thought i'd start a new thread and this was the only topic (after 20 seconds of pondering) worth writing about that i could come up with.
i look at third world countries as being able to fit into one of two groups, the underdeveloped and the developing. i make this distinction based on whether or not the country is making significant growth economically and in this case in the area of medicine.
right now it seems that a lot of nations (on the continent) are content with being medically underdeveloped. it is not uncommon for people to be flown off the continent to europe (england, france, germany) or to the US to receive medical care that they should be able to receive at home.
so if you could do something about the current situation, what would it be?

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WaZoBia said:
what do you guys think about the future of medicine on the continent? i thought i'd start a new thread and this was the only topic (after 20 seconds of pondering) worth writing about that i could come up with.
i look at third world countries as being able to fit into one of two groups, the underdeveloped and the developing. i make this distinction based on whether or not the country is making significant growth economically and in this case in the area of medicine.
right now it seems that a lot of nations (on the continent) are content with being medically underdeveloped. it is not uncommon for people to be flown off the continent to europe (england, france, germany) or to the US to receive medical care that they should be able to receive at home.
so if you could do something about the current situation, what would it be?

(1.) Increase the salary of physicans to try and encourage more physician from leaving to areas that pride salaries that are triple of what a physician can make in a year.

(2.) Create a universal health insurance so that everyone is covered and no one has to pay as they go.

(3.) Invest more money into prevention and health education

Sadly number 1 is the most important since over half the physicians leave africa for greener pastures and more income potential. Until something is done about this, the healthcare system will continue to suffer. I'm not an african citizen nor have I ever been to africa, yet, from what I've read, this is the biggest issue concerning the healthcare system in Africa. How can you improve your healthcare system when there aren't enough doctors and nurses due to poor income potential? Also, how can you improve your healthcare system when many can't pay the cost of medical care?

Just my 2 cents.
 
Here's one thing I've always been concerned about, though I'm probably alone in my views, but I think another thing is that tradition African medicine shouldn't be ignored or shunned in favor of "western" medicine. Ppl in the village who can't travel the 20 miles to go see a doctor still go to village medicine men/women who use traditional remedies, and a lot of those work. I think there is a wealth of knowledge that can be uncovered from traditional medicine men/women on how to treat diseases, esp in a village setting where there is no electricity or tap water.
 
1) revamp the medical school curriculum. emphasize research in order to retain the innovative, creative part.
2) in order for # 1 to work, we need to increase the number of medical/research infrustructors. in the '60s for example, my country's GNP was equal to south Korea and singapore's. and this is where i go to #3.
3) CORRUPTION. this has to be tackled. this is what's holding back most Afrikan countries.
4)The brain drain problem is bound to be around for a while b/c in my oppinion, humans will always look to better their if not their offspring's livelihood ( if i know my children will have an astounding education if i moved out of Afrika to a developed nation, i wouldn't sleep on it). so as the OP said, raise the income of physicians to a competitive level. Actually in most Afrikan coutries, the private practitioners in the capital cities make a decent living. it's the underserved areas (with higher populations) that need the physicians. it's almost the same dilema affecting the US right now.A concentration of physicians in big cities and a lack in rural areas.
 
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