Health care fees abolishment in Africa

Aid group calls for abolishment of health care fees in Africa
Mainichi Daily News - Japan
... An international aid group called Tuesday for rich countries to help Africa abolish such health care fees -- removing token payments that Save the Children ...

Mbene Ndiaye says she doesn't know how she'll continue to pay the US$5 a day it costs to keep her 4-year-old at the Senegalese hospital that diagnosed his kidney disease.
She's a single mother and she's already borrowing from her parents. She says it'd be possible if the charge were just lower -- US$3 a day she could do.

An international aid group called Tuesday for rich countries to help Africa abolish such health care fees -- removing token payments that Save the Children says do little to defray the cost of care and often prevent poor families from seeking medical attention.

The charity and advocacy organization said the fees -- encouraged by international donors as a way to offset costs and improve access to care -- fund less than 5 percent of public health services in Africa and sharply increase administrative costs.