Tuesday, August 10, 2021 / 6:05 PM / By
Deloitte / Header Image Credit: WHO
Deloitte
has announced the launch of the Deloitte Africa Health Equity Institute
(DAHEI), which uses data and analytics, research as well as strategic
partnerships with government and health care organisations to advance health
care equity in Africa.
“The COVID-19
pandemic laid bare the persistent and deep-rooted challenges of ensuring
equitable health outcomes for all. As a global society we were forced to face
the fact that, even in the 21st century, communities around the world still
lack basic medical care because of underfunding in public health
infrastructure. COVID challenged us all – public and private sector alike – to
re-think the status quo to rebuild and reinvest in more equitable and
affordable health care infrastructure,” Punit Renjen, CEO, Deloitte Global,
said ahead of the launch.
“The
Deloitte Africa Health Equity Institute has been set up to help respond to
healthcare inequality, one of the greatest challenges of our times. This is
especially needed in a continent like ours where fragmented health systems, the
divide between public and private healthcare as well as socio-economic
conditions puts healthcare beyond the reach of many. We are immensely proud of
this initiative,” said Lwazi Bam, Deloitte Africa CEO. In South Africa,
DAHEI has already been involved in work that has supported the government’s
COVID-19 response.
Ashleigh
Theophanides, the Africa Life Sciences & Health Care Industry Lead at
Deloitte, who heads up the institute, says Deloitte is expanding its long-term
commitment to aligning healthcare ecosystems of Community-Based Organisations,
government agencies, academics and the private sector in order to achieve
better healthcare outcomes. “We aim to use the pillars of data and
analytics, knowledge and evidence as well partnerships and our expertise to
address some of the health care challenges faced by our communities across the
continent,” says Theophanides.
Deloitte
has already done extensive qualitative work in South Africa’s COVID-19
response. The firm supported Business for South Africa (B4SA), the business
body created to guide business response to COVID-19, in creating a technology
platform that was used to monitor the demand for Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) in SA. This covered the value chain from the procurement stage to
identifying supply gaps and delivery in areas of acute need across the country.
Deloitte
has also helped develop geographical spatial modelling to map the spread of
infections in densely populated areas and help identify locations for isolating
facilities. Epidemiological modelling has been used to project the demand for
ICU and high care beds, while public transport modelling was used to estimate
the number of daily commuters, and thus the rate of infections, across various
modes of public transport when the economy was being gradually opened last
year.
In other parts
of the continent, DAHEI helped some governments monitor and improve their
public HIV/Aids treatment programme and strengthen the capacity of their
primary health care programme, both of which mostly benefit the poor.
The
institute also assisted various parts of the health sector improve monitoring
and value for money for donors including the Global Fund, USAID and the World
Bank, most of which is directed at the poor and marginalised.
Theophanides
points out that a key pillar of the institute’s work is investing in
community-based NGOs dedicated to addressing a broad set of systemic barriers
to health care. Last year, Deloitte offered its service for free to the
international health NGO Project Hope, which offers health care support
services in the developing world, to draft its five-year strategy including
fundraising and help it strengthen programmes such as COVID-19 response.
The
institute has also developed playbooks, or planning tools, that can be used by
health care organisations and various spheres of government to plan for various
phases of COVID-19 responses. The playbooks provide COVID-19 recovery scenarios
aimed at the social sector, a guide to setting up vaccination sites for
community and mass vaccination, as well as research guide based on how densely
populated cities can build and finance resilient and equitable healthcare
systems.
Globally, the Health Equity Institute already has a partnership with the
World Economic Forum, and Theophanides says they will be looking to set up
similar ones on the continent.
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