Inclusion of vulnerable groups in health policies : regional policies on health priorities in Africa
Date
2013-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
Background: If access to equitable health care is to be achieved for all, policy documents must
mention and address in some detail different needs of groups vulnerable to not accessing such
health care. If these needs are not addressed in the policy documents, there is little chance that
they will be addressed at the stage of implementation.
Objectives: This paper reports on an analysis of 11 African Union (AU) policy documents
to ascertain the frequency and the extent of mention of 13 core concepts in relation to 12
vulnerable groups, with a specific focus on people with disabilities.
Method: The paper applied the EquiFrame analytical framework to the 11 AU policy
documents. The 11 documents were analysed in terms of how many times a core concept
was mentioned and the extent of information on how the core concept should be addressed
at the implementation level. Each core concept mention was further analysed in terms of the
vulnerable group in referred to.
Results: The analysis of regional AU policies highlighted the broad nature of the reference
made to vulnerable groups, with a lack of detailed specifications of different needs of different
groups. This is confirmed in the highest vulnerable group mention being for ‘universal’. The
reading of the documents suggests that vulnerable groups are homogeneous in their needs,
which is not the case. There is a lack of recognition of different needs of different vulnerable
groups in accessing health care.
Conclusion: The need for more information and knowledge on the needs of all vulnerable
groups is evident. The current lack of mention and of any detail on how to address needs of
vulnerable groups will significantly impair the access to equitable health care for all.
Description
CITATION: Schneider, M., et al. 2013. Inclusion of vulnerable groups in health policies : regional policies on health priorities in Africa. African Journal of Disability, 2(1): 1-9, doi: 10.4102/ajod.v2i1.40.
The original publication is available at http://www.ajod.org
The original publication is available at http://www.ajod.org
Keywords
People with disability -- Government policy -- Africa, Vulnerable groups -- Health aspects, Health care policy -- Africa, Health -- Social aspects, Health priorities, People with disability -- Health and hygiene -- Africa
Citation
Schneider, M., et al. 2013. Inclusion of vulnerable groups in health policies : regional policies on health priorities in Africa. African Journal of Disability, 2(1): 1-9, doi: 10.4102/ajod.v2i1.40