Health Diplomacy under Structural Adjustment Programe: A View from Nigeria

Abstract

This article examines the role of health diplomacy towards the mitigation of the deleterious consequences of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP). The introduction of SAP, a World Bank ideological framework based on fiscal austerity and deflationary policies, privatization of state owned enterprises trade liberalization, currency devaluation and the general deregulation of the economy, heralded a significant negative development in health care delivery in most African countries including Nigeria. This paper analyses the direct and indirect impact of SAP on health care delivery. It argues that improvement in global health had been negotiated within WHO through multilateral negotiations such as the Bamako Initiative 1987 which was adopted by WHO African Region to counter the adverse effects of SAP. It went a step further by reviewing the implementation of the Initiative in Nigeria. It concludes that advances in global health and indeed the health of Nigerians have not been precipitated only by leap in medical sciences and health technologies but also through health diplomacy.

Keywords: World Health Organisation (WHO), Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), Bamako Initiative, Nigeria, Health Diplomacy