The Republic of Angola - Term Paper Example

? Angola Introduction The republic of Angola is a country located in southern Africa. Angola provides an excellent choice for study as the country is still recovering from a 27 year long civil strike that left most of its public sectors paralyzed (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). One of the greatest challenges for the country’s government is improving its health services. Reform needs to get undertaken to uplift the country’s health facilities that are inadequate and inaccessible to a large percentage of the nation’s population. Location/geography It has an area of 481,321 square miles making it the twenty-third largest country in the world. It lies between latitudes 4 degrees and 18 degrees south and longitudes 12 degrees and 24 degrees east (Staeger, 2012). It gets bordered by Democratic Republic of Congo on the North, Zambia on the east and to the south is Namibia. The country’s west coast lies on the Atlantic Ocean and capital and largest city is Luanda. The country has experienced an intense civil war which lasted for close to 40 years. The country’s official language is Portuguese but it has various recognized national languages; Kikongo, Chokwe, Umbundu, Ganguela and Kwanyama (Staeger, 2012). Population Population in Angola gets estimated to be around 18,056,072 as of July 2012 (Staeger, 2012). 37% of the population consists of the Ovimbundu tribe, 25% the Ambundu, 13% bakongo and 32% the other ethnic groups including Asians and Europeans (Staeger, 2012). As at the end of 2007, Angola had an estimated population of 12,100 refugees and in 2008 it is estimated 400,000 had moved to Angola as migrant workers from Congo (Staeger, 2012). Statistics also shows that there are 30,000 Portuguese and more than 259,000 Chinese people in Angola. The fertility rate of Angola according to the 2012 estimates is 5.5 making it the eleventh highest in the world. The Angolan population grows by 2.2% annually as there are 44.5 births and 24.8 deaths in every one thousand citizens (Staeger, 2012). The infant mortality rate is 184 deaths in every one thousand live births and their life expectancy is 37.63 years (Staeger, 2012). Government Angola’s government is based on the constitution that got amended and passed in 2010 (Staeger, 2012). They have the executive branch which gets headed by the president who serves as both the head of state and the government. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. One gets to become the president only if he or she receives the majority votes in the national assembly and they are allowed to serve for a maximum of two five year terms. The country has a unicameral National Assembly which has two hundred and twenty elected members (Staeger, 2012). The country is administratively divided into eighteen provinces each headed by a governor who in turn answer to the president. The National assembly is responsible for making and amending the constitution. The country enjoys a nominally multi party democracy after intense civil war between individual leaders who wanted to have absolute power. The executive is made up of the president and a council of ministers since the position of the prime minister was abolished (Staeger, 2012). The council of ministers entails all ministers and assistant ministers who regulate policy issues. Their constitution has broad outlines which define the government structure and also protect the rights of the citizens and at the same time it outlines the duties of the citizens (Staeger, 2012). Their legal system is mainly based on the Portuguese and customary law making it to be fragmented and weak. The Supreme Court acts as the appellate tribunal. The country has no court with judicial review powers despite the statutory authorization by the constitution. Economy The countries financial operation and system gets regulated by the National Bank of Angola. The country is rich in diamonds, gold, copper, oil and wildlife which significantly boost the economy of the country (Staeger, 2012). The country mainly exports oil and diamond and this has greatly transformed the economy. The country also practices agriculture and exports its products to various countries in the world. Because of this it is the country with the fastest growing economy in Africa. It has an average GDP growth rate of over twenty percent (Staeger, 2012). In some years it records the highest GDP growth in the world. The country’s biggest trade partner is China and they are the fourth largest importers of goods from China. The countries economy has been healing over time since the end of the civil war which had completely damaged the economic operations of the country (Staeger, 2012). With the prevailing peace the country has attracted more investors and it is conducive and more countries are willing to trade with the country thus boosting the economy. Despite the first improving economy the country still faces huge economic and social problems. Majority of the citizen are poor and this was caused by the political instability and bad leadership. The leaders are corrupt and they only focus on their personal gains. According to the research carried out by the Human Rights watch thirty two billion dollars are unaccounted for in the government accounts regarding the oil revenues (Staeger, 2012). The country’s fertile soils got destroyed from the civil war, and as a result the country now gets forced to import food mainly from Portugal and South Africa. The country also has oil and Gases resources and hydroelectric potential but the country still remains poor because of bad leadership and high levels of corruption. Health Health in Angola gets rated among the worst compared to other countries in the world. Epidemics of malaria, cholera, rabies, and African hemorrhagic fevers are common diseases in the country (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). Many areas of the country have high incidence rates of HIV prevalence and Tuberculosis. It gets rated among the countries with the highest spread of HIV infection in the world. Filariasis, Dengue, and River blindness are other common diseases that get caused by insects in the country. This causes the country to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the globe. and it is among the countries in the world that have the lowest life expectancy (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). The country also has high levels of domestic violence, which cause a significant number of deaths to their population. The country lies in yellow fever endemic zone and as a result the citizens are prone to getting the disease. There are also many cases of cholera and most of the people do not receive rudimentary medical attention due to the high poverty levels and lack of sufficient physicians. The ratio of physicians to patients is seven to every three hundred thousand people. The Children in Angola also face malnutrition due to the high poverty levels. Majority of the country’s population does not have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation and as a result they are prone to water borne diseases (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). The country records the highest maternal death rates in the world. In every one hundred thousand live births there are approximately one thousand five hundred maternal deaths (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). Another cause of this is the poor level of maternal health leading to complications during pregnancies and child birth. Also, the geographical location of the country makes it prone to tropical diseases which directly influence maternal health. Healthcare system and delivery The ministry of health in Angola is struggling to transform the health care system of the citizens. Although the transformation is slow it has had positive results over the recent past. The ministry is involved in extensive data collection so that to find the priority areas that needs to be addressed (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). Which the help of USAID and WHO it has been able to carry out surveys and studies and find solution to most of the health problems and challenges Angola faces. The ministry has invested in finding the solution and as a result they are gradually solving the problems. The ministry has employed over eight hundred Cuban doctors to work in Angola (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). This has assisted the Angolan citizens as the Cuban doctors are more skilled and experienced. The Ministry has also invested in educating the public on the basic things in fighting diseases. In the recent years the ministry has initiated important projects like primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care to ensure sufficient health delivery services (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). The ministry provides private health insurance which enables companies to use private health facilities to offer services to their employees. Angola currently has approximately three thousand doctors and forty thousand nurses but the number is increasing due to the political stability and efforts made by the ministry of health to train more doctors (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). Angolan medical students get sponsored to go to Cuba for training by the government through the ministry. The ministry has ensured there are many training schools for nurses and the five major universities also offer courses in Medicine. The nurses are under the National Nurses association which safe guards and watches over their rights and grievances. The association also ensures the nurses are paid appropriately and they work under conducive working conditions (Connor, Averbug, & Miralles, 2010). The Association organizes for workshops for nurses to get skills and experience. It also ensures nurses work according to the guidelines and policies set for them. The associations improve productivity of the nurses workforce it is also responsible for motivating nurses and other health workers. Its major intention is to strengthen the governing in nursing and improving the leadership capacities in nursing. Health priorities Based on the information from the ministry of health and global health organizations the health priorities for this country are to ensure every citizen can access health facilities or services. The government should ensure that it improves infrastructure like roads to make the hospitals and health facilities accessible to all. The government should also subsidize the charges at the health facilities because majority of the people are poor. Another health priority is that the government should ensure that the people have access to safe drinking water to prevent the water borne diseases. The government should also issue education on the preventive measures on some diseases like HIV and aids. The government should also provide contraceptives to prevent the spread of the sexually transmitted disease. Nursing implications The nurses working in the country can play a part in addressing the health priorities by putting themselves in the frontline in organizing workshops to educate people on the preventive measures of the diseases that are common in the society. Nurses can play a critical role in conducting health education in the country’s health facilities. Nurses can also assist directly by providing medical supplies and assistance to the sick in the country. References Catherine Connor, D. A. (2010). Angola health system assesment 2010. Angola HSA report, 1-156. Staeger, R. (2012). Angola. Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers. Read More