Even before the coronavirus crisis, more than half of Cabo Verdeans who had contact with public medical facilities said they found it difficult to obtain the care they needed, a new Afrobarometer survey shows.
Poor and urban citizens were particularly likely to report difficulties in accessing health-care services. Moreover, one in three respondents said they went without needed medical care at least once during the previous year.
Survey respondents, interviewed last December, ranked health as the third-most-important problem that the government should address, trailing only unemployment and crime/security. However, very few thought the government is doing a good job in improving basic health services.
While Cabo Verde has won international praise for good governance and infrastructure development to improve living conditions, these findings reveal important gaps in the country’s health system.
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