The lives of hundreds of thousands of children
in Africa could be saved each year by abolishing fees for healthcare. The
fees put basic healthcare treatment out of reach of poor people or force
them into debt.
For millions of people in countries
in Africa, healthcare fees have failed to do the job they were intended
to do. African governments have been encouraged by donors such as the World
Bank to introduce fees for healthcare and it was hoped that charging fees
would both help pay for health services and improve access to healthcare.
In this report Save the Children UK
is calling calling for health fee abolition. This is an important step
to build or rebuild
collapsed health systems in order to
ensure all children and their families in Africa have access to free essential
healthcare.