Ranking of Countries With the Best Health System in the World Central – Africa Appears At The Bottom

According to a ranking established by Legatutum Prosperity Index, published recently by the British Think-tank Legatum Institute, no Central African Country appears among the top 50 countries in the world with good health care.

 Despite large annual budgets devoted to health intended to guarantee access to quality health care, the countries of Central Africa do not even appear in the top 50 countries with the best health system in the world.

 The first positions are occupied by Asian countries. Gabon, first Central African country to appear on the classification only occupies the 17th position on the African continent, and the 102nd place on the global sphere. Congo-Brazzaville occupies the 45th place in the Continent and 125th in the World.  The Democratic Republic of Congo appears at the 53rd position of the Continent.

France, where most medical evacuations of these Central African countries go to, and which prides itself of having one of the best health systems in the world, with almost free access and unlimited to care occupies the 16th position.

This ranking, published each year by the British think-tank Legatum Institute, is based on about fifty criteria, such as the obesity rate, vaccination coverage, infant mortality, the number of doctors per capita, life expectancy, or the satisfaction of citizens vis-à-vis care.

Cameroon, whose enormous resources are deployed by the state budget each year, appears at the 158th position, and three other Central African countries; Equatorial Guinea (159th), the Central African Republic (163rd) and Chad (166th), are among the good last of this ranking.

 According to this ranking, Singapore has the best healthcare system in the world, followed by Japan and Switzerland.

 Singapore stands out in particular for the excellent general health of its citizens (number of smokers, prevalence of illnesses, etc) and for its health coverage financed by both the public and the private sector.  The best in Africa remains Mauritius (43rd), Seychelles (47th), followed by Botswana, Cape Verde, and South Africa.

 The problems of health systems in Africa remain: Insufficient quality personnel, difficulty in accessing healthcare, insufficient health infrastructure, lack of moral integrity and responsibility in monitoring patients, low life expectancy among others.

There are also a growing number of smokers, the use of illicit drugs and substances, or the prevalence of pandemics such HIV-AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, stroke, and the neglect of mental illnesses.

 Most African countries spend less than 10% of their GDP on their health systems. Citizen satisfaction with this has dropped from 50.9% in 2019 to 45.4% in 2021.

Ingrid KENGNE