Overview of The Global Healthcare Sector

and 6%, respectively. Furthermore, the Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (recognizes the healthcare sector as a superior sector because human health is the most valuable asset and the source of all other assets it is the engine of economic growth and prosperity. For that reason, as per Yeganeh (2019) healthcare is a predominant occupation of policymakers, business leaders and citizens in many developed and emerging countries.
Current health crises are caused by COVID-19, which has compelled all organizations, public or private, to revise their mission statements and visions, meaning that the healthcare sector's ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment would be crucial in determining its success
(Burlea-Schiopoiu and
Ferhati, 2021). Yeganeh (2019) indicated that the global expenditure on medicines is growing around 6% annually, which is expected to reach nearly $1.5 trillion by 2021.
2.2.8.1 The Ghanaian Healthcare Sector
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Ghanaian population per the Population and Housing Census Provisional Results is 30.8 million (GSS, 2021). Human
Development Index (HDI) data from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) inputs Ghana in the middle category of human development (0.592) (UNDP, However, in the last three decades, the HDI value of the country has improved by indicating advances in health, education, and living standards (USAID, Procurement and Supply Directorate (PSD), Procurement Unit, Office of the Chief
Pharmacist, Food and Drug Authority (FDA, and National Healthcare Insurance Authority are all part of Ghana's public healthcare sector. The supply chain management responsibilities of these departments, as well as other supply chain management agencies and units in
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Ghana's public healthcare sector, are heavily overlapping and decentralized (USAID, The number of health facilities as of 2020 by Statista is 2857, comprising of government health facilities, 928 private health facilities, 220 Christian Health Association of
Ghana (CHAG) health facilities, 79 Quasi-Government health facilities, 2 Non-Governmental
Organizations health facilities, 2 Islamic health facilities and a Mission health facility
(Statista, In 2003, the Ghanaian government established a lofty goal to make quality, affordable healthcare available to all citizens through the implementation of the National Health Insurance
Scheme (NHIS) (Sightsavers, 2019). A national health insurance program, community-based primary health initiatives, and an increase in the number of healthcare workers have all contributed to Ghana's recent expansion of access to healthcare (USAID, 2020). Although
Ghana's healthcare workforce has made significant progress, the density of healthcare employees virtually doubled between 2005 and 2015, from 1.07 to 2.14 per 1,000 people
(Asamani et al., 2018). However, many types of health facilities in Ghana—regional and district hospitals, polyclinics, health centers, clinics, and Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) facilities—offer diminishing degrees of health services at the Service
Delivery Points level (USAID, The Ghanaian health system continues to bear the greatest financial and mortality burden from communicable diseases, which account for 51% of all deaths, with malaria, HIV/AIDS,
ischemic heart disease, and lower respiratory infections ranking as the top four primary causes of death (USAID, 2020). According to the World Bank, the most recent health expenditure of the Ghanaian healthcare sector is 3.539% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product
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GDP) (World Bank, 2019). As of 2010, the percentage of government spending on healthcare in the United States was 12 percent by 2016, this figure had dropped to 7 percent (WHO, 2017). Ghana has fallen short of the 15% target set by the Abuja Declaration of WHO, Access to healthcare varies greatly depending on location in the country (USAID, 2020). In, for instance, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicated that in Greater Accra, the doctor to person ratio is one doctor to 3,582, but in the Upper East region, over persons are to 1 doctor (GHS, 2017). In addition, Adua et al. (2017) found that Accra and
Kumasi, two of Ghana's most populous cities, have a disproportionately high concentration of health professionals, while rural healthcare facilities have fewer, typically less-qualified and overworked health workers.
However, according to Johnson et al. (2011), the Government of Ghana, aimed at incentivizing work in rural areas, has instituted rural oriented healthcare programs.
Nevertheless, rural labour retention is still plagued by pay disparities, lack of advancement opportunities, lack of infrastructure, and excessive effort. In addition, there is a continual increase in the population in urban areas, according to the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS),
and it is projected to exceed 63 percent by the year 2025 (GSS, 2014). According to the
GSS's 2010 population and housing census report, population growth correlates with an increase in closeness and access to health facilities. Still, these benefits are countered by the unfavourable health outcomes associated with high-density living in poor hygienic conditions
(GSS, 2014).
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