Current Healthcare Challenges
Health care in Africa remains the worst in the world. Despite widespread poverty, an astonishing 50 percent of the regionโs health expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payments from individuals.
Most of the region lacks the infrastructure to deliver health care and faces a severe shortage of trained medical personnel. As Africa’s economies improve, the demand for good quality health care will only increase further. There is limited access to healthcare services in the low and middle income African countries due to poverty, low education, in adequate healthcare systems, and shortage of healthcare professionals.
Access is still the greatest challenge to health care delivery in Africa. Fewer than 50% of Africans have access to modern health facilities. Many African countries spend less than 10% of their GDP on health care. Also, there is a shortage of trained health care professionals from Africa
Places like Kenya- There is one doctor to every 5,000 inhabitants and there can be huge variation in standards of care across geographical areas, private and public facilities, and the type of treatment available. The best private hospitals are to be found in the larger cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa, offering the kind of provision akin to that available in developed countries for many conditions. Uganda- While the standard of medical facilities in Uganda is different to those found in developed countries, there are private clinics in Kampala. Publicly run hospitals, and those in rural areas, may be overcrowded and under-stocked, and private clinics very expensive.
Reuben J William Foundation Initiative
Antenatal Care
In Kenya, over 90 percent of pregnant women attend at least one ANC visit during pregnancy. However, Kenya is currently among the 10 countries that contribute the most neonatal deaths globally.
Education
The Christine Awori Hayanga Scholarship provides financial support for a student in Africa with high academic achievement and demonstrated financial need. This Scholarship enables a student to obtain an education they may not have access to otherwise.
Women and Children
RJW Foundation is designed to strengthen the capacity of African institutions to carry out internationally competitive research. These range widely in focus, from improving the survival and health prospects of mothers and babies, surgical/critical health care, addressing chronic disease and building resilient and responsive health systems throughout the region.
Medical Research
In many African countries, there are no proper career structures within medical schools or biomedical research institutions. The curricula for biomedical science courses in many African universities do not reflect recent advances in the field of medicine. The Ruben J. Williams Foundation believes that there is a great potential for the development and growth of scientific research in Africa by Africans and it is our sincere hope that we play a role in making this a reality.
2023 Ruben J Williams Foundation Scolar
Louisa Onyewadume, M.D.
Dr Onyawadume is currently enrolled in the Masterโs in Public Health (MPH)at Harvard University, Class of 2023 with a Global Health focus. As an RJW Foundation Scholar, she is working with Orthopaedic Link and collaborators in Botswana to complete her MPH practicum. Under the supervision of Dr. Ananthakrishnan and Dr. Park (Program for Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard University), she will provide an on-the-ground assessment for capacity building of spine surgery in Botswana. Orthopaedic Link has created a capacity-building algorithm for spine surgery in developing countries based on procedure, diagnosis, and the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery Surgical Assessment Tool. This analysis will augment efforts to develop pathways for surgical systems capacity building in Botswana.
The Christine Awori Hayanga Scholarship
The Christine Awori Hayanga Scholarship provides financial support for a student in Africa with high academic achievement and demonstrated financial need. This Scholarship enables a student to obtain an education they may not have access to otherwise.
This Scholarship is funded by the Immediate family of Christine Awori Hayanga. Her son Jeremiah Awori Hayanga is the founder of the Ruben J Williams Foundation and received his Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2008.
Christine Awori-Hayanga studied law at the University of Dar-es-Salaam where she was the only woman in her class. She has spent her life dedicated to advocating for women around the world.
Eligibility for The Christine Awori Hayanga Scholarship is determined at the sole discretion of the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.