title: People in sub-Saharan Africa rate their health and health care among the lowest in the world.
abstract: The health of people in sub-Saharan Africa is a major global concern. However, data are weak, and little is known about how people in the region perceive their health or their health care. We used data from the Gallup World Poll in 2012 to document sub-Saharan Africans' perceived health status, their satisfaction with health care, their contact with medical professionals, and the priority they attach to health care. In comparison to other regions of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest ratings for well-being and the lowest satisfaction with health care. It also has the second-lowest perception of personal health, after only the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. HIV prevalence is positively correlated with perceived improvements in health care in countries with high prevalence. This is consistent with an improvement in at least some health care services as a result of the largely aid-funded rollout of antiretroviral treatment. Even so, sub-Saharan Africans do not prioritize health care as a matter of policy, although donors are increasingly shifting their aid efforts in the region toward health.
authors.affiliation: Angus S. Deaton (deaton@princeton.edu) is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of International Affairs and a professor of economics and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, in New Jersey.
authors.forename: Angus S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Deaton
authors.affiliation: Robert Tortora was principal scientist and chief methodologist at the Gallup Organization, in Washington, D.C., when this article was written. He is now a senior fellow of survey methodology at ICF International, in Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tortora
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006295:Health Resources / Q000191:economics*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011203:Poverty; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment; D057566:Self Report
keywords: AIDS/HIV; Developing World < International/global health studies; Public Opinion; Quality Of Care