John Ele-Ojo Ataguba
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 1742984 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | John Ele-Ojo Ataguba |
| NOMBRES | John Ele-Ojo |
| APELLIDO | Ataguba |
| FIRMA | ATAGUBA J E |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Cape Town |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7746-3826 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 43 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 29 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 43 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2011 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
Factors affecting equitable access and uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in Ghana
Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged as one of the most serious pandemics that impacted health systems and world economies. Vaccination against the pandemic was considered as an effective tool for the prevention and containment of the virus. Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, efforts were made to enhance procurement and distribution of vaccines across countries with the view to containing the pandemic. However, …
Time to diagnosis for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer in Zimbabwe and South Africa
INTRODUCTION: Shorter time to diagnosis may lead to better cancer outcomes in Southern Africa. This study measured the time from symptoms to first healthcare visit (patient interval; PI) and diagnosis (diagnostic interval; DI) and associated factors for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer in Zimbabwe and South Africa (SA). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey collected data on socio-demographics, cancer awareness, barriers to seeking care, sympto…
A qualitative examination of the distribution strategies, access, and equitable uptake of the Covid-19 vaccines in Kenya
Background: The WHO and international partners identified vaccination against the coronavirus as one of the important public health interventions in controlling Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) infections. The COVID-19 vaccine uptake was however low and characterized by inequitable distribution and access in Kenya. This study aimed to examine in depth the causes of inequity in vaccine uptake to inform the future rollout and successful uptake of ne…
Changes in socioeconomic inequality in self-assessed health in South Africa
Globally, poor health is associated with lower socioeconomic status (i.e., the gradient). While significant socio-demographic drivers of socioeconomic inequalities have been documented in South Africa, little is known about changes in socioeconomic inequalities in health between and within socioeconomic groups, an essential consideration for closing the gaps between socioeconomic groups. This paper assesses changes in health inequalities in South…
Explaining socioeconomic inequality in food consumption patterns among households with women of childbearing age in South Africa
The changing food environment shifts peoples’ eating behaviour toward unhealthy food, including ultra-processed food (UPF), leading to detrimental health outcomes like obesity. This study examines changes in socioeconomic inequalities in food consumption spending between 2005/06 and 2010/11 in South African households with women of childbearing age (15 to 49) (WCBA). Data come from the 2005/06 and 2010/11 Income and Expenditure Surveys. The distr…
Did socioeconomic inequalities in overweight and obesity in South African women of childbearing age improve between 1998 and 2016? A decomposition analysis
Overweight and obesity in adult women contribute to deaths and disability from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and obesity-related health problems in their offspring. Globally, overweight and obesity prevalence among women of childbearing age (WCBA) has increased, but associated socioeconomic inequality remains unclear. This study, therefore, assesses the changing patterns in the socioeconomic inequality in overweight and obesity among South Afr…
Income inequality and pandemics
OBJECTIVES: Assess the relationship between income inequality and HIV incidence, AIDS mortality and COVID-19 mortality. DESIGN: Multicountry observational study. SETTING: 217 countries for HIV/AIDS analysis, 151 countries for COVID-19 analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Used three samples of national-level data: a sample of all countries with available data (global sample), a subsample of African countries (African sample) and a subsample excluding African c…
Is socioeconomic inequality in antenatal care coverage widening or reducing between- and within-socioeconomic groups? A case of 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa
Maternal health statistics have improved in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Still, progress remains slow in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. Accelerating antenatal care (ANC) coverage is critical to improving maternal health outcomes. To progress, countries should understand whether to target reducing health disparities between- or within-socioeconomic groups, as policies for achieving these may differ. This pa…
Characterizing key misconceptions of equity in health financing for universal health coverage
Fairness or equity in health financing is critical to ensuring universal health coverage (UHC). While equity in health financing is generally about financing health services according to ability-to-pay, misconceptions exist among policymakers, decision-makers and some researchers about what constitutes financing health services according to ability-to-pay or an equitably financed health system. This commentary characterizes three misconceptions o…
Socioeconomic inequalities in intergenerational overweight and obesity transmission from mothers to offsprings in South Africa
This study assesses socioeconomic inequality in the intergenerational transmission of overweight and obesity from mothers to offsprings in South Africa, including the factors contributing to inequality. Data were drawn from the 2017 National Income Dynamic Study, which collected anthropometric and socioeconomic information. Non-pregnant mothers aged 15-49 years and their offsprings 0-14 years were included in the analysis. The dependent variables…
Overweight and obesity in non-pregnant women of childbearing age in South Africa
The increasing trend in overweight and obesity in WCBA in SA demands urgent public health attention. Increased public awareness is needed about obesity and its health consequences for this vulnerable population. Efforts are needed across different sectors to prevent excessive weight gain in WCBA, focusing on older women, self-identified Black African population group, women with higher educational attainment, women residing in urban areas, and we…
Decomposing socio-economic inequalities in antenatal care utilisation in 12 Southern African Development Community countries
Although many countries are making progress towards achieving the global sustainable development goals, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lags behind. SSA bears a relatively higher burden of maternal morbidity and mortality than other regions despite existing cost-effective interventions. This paper assesses antenatal care (ANC) service utilisation among women in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, one of the four SSA regions. Spe…
Explaining socioeconomic disparities and gaps in the use of antenatal care services in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa
Significant maternal and child deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) even with existing effective interventions. Antenatal care (ANC), for example, is an intervention that improves the health of pregnant women and their babies, but only 52% of pregnant women in SSA had the recommended minimum of four ANC visits between 2011 and 2016. While significant socioeconomic inequalities in ANC visits have been reported to the disadvantage of the poor, …
Covid-19 Pandemic, a War to be Won
Social determinants of health
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many countries with increasing morbidity and mortality. Interestingly, many of the actions and policies adopted in countries are linked to the social determinants of health (SDH). The SDH are critical determinants of health and health inequalities that are not directly within the health sector. Policies such as social distancing, good hygiene, avoiding large gatherings, cancelling of s…
Assessing medical impoverishment and associated factors in health care in Ethiopia
BACKGROUND: About 5% of the global population, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, is forced into poverty because of out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending. In most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the share of OOP health spending in current health expenditure exceeds 35%, increasing the likelihood of impoverishment. In Ethiopia, OOP payments remained high at 37% of current health expenditure in 2016. This study assesses the impoveris…
Decomposition of socioeconomic inequalities in cigarette smoking
While overall inequality in smoking prevalence and intensity is focused among the wealthy, the contribution of region of residence and education warrant some attention from policy makers. Based on our results, we suggest an assessment of compliance and enforcement of the Tobacco Products Control Act, that initially focuses on regions with reportedly low education statistics followed by an appropriate implementation strategy to address the challen…
Equity in household spending on alcoholic beverages in South Africa
The results show no evidence that alcohol policy including taxation increased regressivity. Thus, there is an opportunity to further reduce the regressivity using coherent alcohol policies. This paper concludes that there is a need for further research to unpack why alcohol spending became less regressive over the years that goes beyond just looking at changes in the distribution of alcohol expenditure
Socioeconomic inequalities in maternal health service utilisation
Addressing wealth inequalities, enhancing literacy, employment and mitigating spatial impediments to health care use will reduce socioeconomic inequalities in ANC utilisation in Nigeria. These factors are the social determinants of health inequalities. Thus, a social determinants of health approach is needed to address socioeconomic inequalities in ANC coverage in Nigeria
An assessment of financial catastrophe and impoverishment from out-of-pocket health care payments in Swaziland
BACKGROUND: As the drive towards universal coverage is gaining momentum globally, the need for assessing levels of financial health protection in countries, particularity the developing world, has increasingly become important. In Swaziland, the level of financial health protection is not clearly understood. OBJECTIVE: To assess financial catastrophe and impoverishment from out-of-pocket payments for health services in Swaziland. METHODS: The nat…
Informal workers’ access to health care services
BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, employment in the informal sector has grown rapidly in all regions including low and middle-income countries. In the developing countries, between 50 and 75% of workers are employed in the informal sector. In Ghana, more than 80% of the total working population is working in the informal sector. They are largely self-employed persons such as farmers, traders, food processors, artisans, craft-workers among ot…
How to do (or not to do) … a health financing incidence analysis
Financing incidence analysis (FIA) assesses how the burden of health financing is distributed in relation to household ability to pay (ATP). In a progressive financing system, poorer households contribute a smaller proportion of their ATP to finance health services compared to richer households. A system is regressive when the poor contribute proportionately more. Equitable health financing is often associated with progressivity. To conduct a com…
Inequalities in health and health risk factors in the Southern African Development Community
There is a need for concerted efforts to tackle the significant socioeconomic inequalities in ill-health and health risk factors in the region. Because some of the determinants of ill-health lie outside the health sector, inter-sectoral action is required
Assessing the catastrophic effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments prior to the uptake of a nationwide health insurance scheme in Ghana
BACKGROUND: Financial risk protection against the cost of unforeseen healthcare has gained global attention in recent years. Although Ghana implemented a nationwide health insurance scheme with a goal of reducing financial barriers to accessing healthcare and addressing impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments, there is a paucity of knowledge on the extent of financial catastrophe of such payments in Ghana. Thus, this pape…
Assessing the impoverishment effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments prior to the uptake of the national health insurance scheme in Ghana
BACKGROUND: There is a global concern regarding how households could be protected from relatively large healthcare payments which are a major limitation to accessing healthcare. Such payments also endanger the welfare of households with the potential of moving households into extreme impoverishment. This paper examines the impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments in Ghana prior to the introduction of Ghana's national healt…
Paying for and receiving benefits from health services in South Africa
There is a global challenge for health systems to ensure equity in both the delivery and financing of health care. However, many African countries still do not have equitable health systems. Traditionally, equity in the delivery and the financing of health care are assessed separately, in what may be termed 'partial' analyses. The current debate on countries moving toward universal health systems, however, requires a holistic understanding of equ…
Factors influencing the burden of health care financing and the distribution of health care benefits in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa
In Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, health care financing is progressive overall. However, out-of-pocket payments and health insurance for the informal sector are regressive. The distribution of health care benefits is generally pro-rich. This paper explores the factors influencing these distributions in the three countries. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with insurance scheme members, the…
Social solidarity and willingness to tolerate risk- and income-related cross-subsidies within health insurance
The importance of ill-health in perpetuating poverty is well recognized. In order to prevent the damaging downward spiral of poverty and illness, there is a need for a greater level of social protection, with greater cross-subsidization between the poor and wealthy, and the healthy and those with ill-health. The aim of this paper is to examine individual preferences for willingness to pre-pay for health care and willingness to cross-subsidize the…
Assessing income redistributive effect of health financing in Zambia
Inequities in access to health care in South Africa
How to do (or not to do) … a benefit incidence analysis
Benefit incidence analysis (BIA) considers who (in terms of socio-economic groups) receive what benefit from using health services. While traditionally BIA has focused on only publicly funded health services, to assess whether or not public subsidies are ‘pro-poor’, the same methodological approach can be used to assess how well the overall health system is performing in terms of the distribution of service benefits. This is becoming increasingly…
Socioeconomic-related health inequality in South Africa
The current burden and distribution of ill-health indicates how critical it is for the South African health system to strive for access to and use of health services that is in line with need for such care. Concerted government efforts, within both the health sector and other social and economic sectors are therefore needed to address the significant health inequalities in South Africa
Building on “the concept of prevention
BACKGROUND: In the article by Starfield and colleagues, it was suggested that the concept of prevention has gone astray. This article aims to extend their ideas. METHODS: Our methods are to take the Starfield et al article and argue that it is possible and useful to see prevention in a wider context, going beyond prevention in healthcare and viewing prevention as a social good. RESULTS: This wider view results in some questioning of the nature of…
Equity in financing and use of health care in Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania
Does the distribution of health care benefits in Kenya meet the principles of universal coverage
The principles of universal coverage require that all should benefit from health care according to need. The Kenyan health sector is clearly inequitable and benefits are not distributed on the basis of need. Deliberate efforts should be directed to restructuring the Kenyan health system to address access barriers and ensure that all Kenyans benefit from health care when they need it
Social solidarity and willingness to tolerate risk- and income-related cross-subsidies within health insurance
The importance of ill-health in perpetuating poverty is well recognized. In order to prevent the damaging downward spiral of poverty and illness, there is a need for a greater level of social protection, with greater cross-subsidization between the poor and wealthy, and the healthy and those with ill-health. The aim of this paper is to examine individual preferences for willingness to pre-pay for health care and willingness to cross-subsidize the…
Paying for and receiving benefits from health services in South Africa
There is a global challenge for health systems to ensure equity in both the delivery and financing of health care. However, many African countries still do not have equitable health systems. Traditionally, equity in the delivery and the financing of health care are assessed separately, in what may be termed 'partial' analyses. The current debate on countries moving toward universal health systems, however, requires a holistic understanding of equ…
Factors influencing the burden of health care financing and the distribution of health care benefits in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa
In Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, health care financing is progressive overall. However, out-of-pocket payments and health insurance for the informal sector are regressive. The distribution of health care benefits is generally pro-rich. This paper explores the factors influencing these distributions in the three countries. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with insurance scheme members, the…
Moving towards universal coverage in South Africa? Lessons from a voluntary government insurance scheme
BACKGROUND: In 2005, the South African government introduced a voluntary, subsidised health insurance scheme for civil servants. In light of the global emphasis on universal coverage, empirical evidence is needed to understand the relationship between new health financing strategies and health care access thereby improving global understanding of these issues. OBJECTIVES: This study analysed coverage of the South African government health insuran…
Inequalities in multimorbidity in South Africa
While there is a dearth of information on the socioeconomic distribution of multimorbidity in many developing countries, this paper has shown that its distribution in South Africa indicates that the poor bear a greater burden of multimorbidity. This is more so for disability than for illness. This paper argues that, given the high burden and skewed socioeconomic distribution of multimorbidity, there is a need to design policies to address this si…
Tribute to Gavin Mooney and Del Weston
Inequalities in public health care delivery in Zambia
The results of the paper point to areas of focus in ensuring equitable access to health services especially for the poor and needy. This includes strengthening primary facilities that serve the poor and reducing access barriers to ensure that health care utilisation at higher-level facilities is distributed in accordance with need for it. These initiatives may well reduce the observed inequities and accelerate the move towards universal health co…
Explaining the role of the social determinants of health on health inequality in South Africa
BACKGROUND: Action on the social determinants of health (SDH) is relevant for reducing health inequalities. This is particularly the case for South Africa (SA) with its very high level of income inequality and inequalities in health and health outcomes. This paper provides evidence on the key SDH for reducing health inequalities in the country using a framework initially developed by the World Health Organization. OBJECTIVE: This paper assesses h…
Investigating the relationship between self-rated health and social capital in South Africa
Policy makers may want to consider policies that impact socioeconomic conditions as well as social capital. Some of these policies are linked to the SDH. We contend that the significant social capital including community service membership can be encouraged through policy in a way that is in line with the values of the people. This is likely to impact on health and quality of life generally and lead to a reduction in the burden of disease in Sout…
The feasibility of measuring and monitoring social determinants of health and the relevance for policy and programme – a qualitative assessment of four countries
BACKGROUND: Since the publication of the reports by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), many research papers have documented inequities, explaining causal pathways in order to inform policy and programmatic decision-making. At the international level, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect an attempt to bring together these themes and the complexities involved in defining a comprehensive development framework. Howeve…
Explaining socio-economic inequalities in immunization coverage in Nigeria
Globally, in 2013 over 6 million children younger than 5 years died from either an infectious cause or during the neonatal period. A large proportion of these deaths occurred in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunization is one way to reduce childhood morbidity and deaths. In Nigeria, however, although immunization is provided without a charge at public facilities, coverage remains low and deaths from vaccine preventable…
Assessing the catastrophic effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments prior to the uptake of a nationwide health insurance scheme in Ghana
BACKGROUND: Financial risk protection against the cost of unforeseen healthcare has gained global attention in recent years. Although Ghana implemented a nationwide health insurance scheme with a goal of reducing financial barriers to accessing healthcare and addressing impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments, there is a paucity of knowledge on the extent of financial catastrophe of such payments in Ghana. Thus, this pape…
Assessing the impoverishment effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments prior to the uptake of the national health insurance scheme in Ghana
BACKGROUND: There is a global concern regarding how households could be protected from relatively large healthcare payments which are a major limitation to accessing healthcare. Such payments also endanger the welfare of households with the potential of moving households into extreme impoverishment. This paper examines the impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments in Ghana prior to the introduction of Ghana's national healt…
Assessing income redistributive effect of health financing in Zambia
An assessment of financial catastrophe and impoverishment from out-of-pocket health care payments in Swaziland
BACKGROUND: As the drive towards universal coverage is gaining momentum globally, the need for assessing levels of financial health protection in countries, particularity the developing world, has increasingly become important. In Swaziland, the level of financial health protection is not clearly understood. OBJECTIVE: To assess financial catastrophe and impoverishment from out-of-pocket payments for health services in Swaziland. METHODS: The nat…
Informal workers’ access to health care services
BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, employment in the informal sector has grown rapidly in all regions including low and middle-income countries. In the developing countries, between 50 and 75% of workers are employed in the informal sector. In Ghana, more than 80% of the total working population is working in the informal sector. They are largely self-employed persons such as farmers, traders, food processors, artisans, craft-workers among ot…
How to do (or not to do) … a health financing incidence analysis
Financing incidence analysis (FIA) assesses how the burden of health financing is distributed in relation to household ability to pay (ATP). In a progressive financing system, poorer households contribute a smaller proportion of their ATP to finance health services compared to richer households. A system is regressive when the poor contribute proportionately more. Equitable health financing is often associated with progressivity. To conduct a com…
Inequalities in health and health risk factors in the Southern African Development Community
There is a need for concerted efforts to tackle the significant socioeconomic inequalities in ill-health and health risk factors in the region. Because some of the determinants of ill-health lie outside the health sector, inter-sectoral action is required
Decomposition of socioeconomic inequalities in cigarette smoking
While overall inequality in smoking prevalence and intensity is focused among the wealthy, the contribution of region of residence and education warrant some attention from policy makers. Based on our results, we suggest an assessment of compliance and enforcement of the Tobacco Products Control Act, that initially focuses on regions with reportedly low education statistics followed by an appropriate implementation strategy to address the challen…
Medicine (34 obras) · Economics (30 obras) · Environmental health (30 obras) · Economic growth (25 obras) · Population (25 obras) · Healthcare Systems and Reforms (24 obras) · Health care (23 obras) · Global Maternal and Child Health (21 obras) · Inequality (17 obras) · Business (16 obras)