Browsing by Author "Oni, Tolu"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Breaking down the silos of Universal Health Coverage : towards systems for the primary prevention of noncommunicable diseases in Africa
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2019) Oni, Tolu; Mogo, Ebele; Ahmed, Aliko; Davies, Justine I.
    ►African countries are not on track to achieve global targets for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, driven by an insufficient focus on ecological drivers of NCD risk factors, including poor urban development and the unbridled proliferation of the commercial determinants of health. ► As the risk factors for NCDs are largely shaped outside the healthcare sector, an emphasis on downstream healthcare service provision to the exclusion of upstream population-level prevention limits the goals of universal health coverage (UHC) and its potential for optimal improvements in (achieving) health and well-being outcomes in Africa. ► The political will for UHC in Africa will miss the opportunity to turn the tide of this emerging NCD epidemic in Africa, if not oriented to a systems for health rather than a solely healthcare-centric approach. A successful approach needs to proactively incorporate wider health determinants (sectors)—housing, planning, waste management, education, governance and finance, among others—in strategies to improve health. This includes aligning governance and accountability mechanisms and strategic objectives of all ‘health determinant’ sectors for health creation and long-term cost savings. ► Researchers have a vital role to play, collaborating with policy makers to provide evidence to support implementation and to facilitate knowledge sharing between African countries and globally.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Intersectoral approaches to health and non-communicable disease prevention in Africa
    (African Sun Media, 2020) Oni, Tolu
    This chapter grounds efforts to achieve optimal population health in Africa, within the context of global and regional aspirations for health as part of the sustainable development agenda. The author highlights the important role that the rapidly growing urban centres in Africa are playing in the ongoing epidemiological transition, with an emerging non-communicable disease epidemic alongside a high burden of infectious disease. Far from seeing this only as a challenge, the author of this chapter explores the opportunity to harness this changing environment for health creation, propose a re-thinking of accountability for health towards a more inclusive definition of health services, and the role that adolescents can and should play both as important targets for non-communicable disease prevention and as agents of change, advocating for an all of government, all of society’s approach to health.