Social Inequalities and Health Security Risks in Ghana and Nigeria

Focusing specifically on the populations of Nigeria and Ghana, this chapter highlights issues of entrenched poverty and alarmingly rising levels of inequality across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As this tangible gap between rich and poor continues to grow within many African countries, health security threats, such as infectious diseases, accentuate the importance of reducing the vulnerability of societies and the need for individual states to ensure optimal public health security. The chapter details how the emergence of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the experiential learning of the Ebola outbreak in SSA provided hard evidence of the inequitable toll borne by the most vulnerable and disadvantageous members of society. It continues to explore the potential for pandemic situations to pose an existential threat to healthcare organisational and structural infrastructure, where those who lack agency in their own access to healthcare suffer to the greatest extent. This chapter places emphasis on the health security risks faced by socially excluded and marginalised groups in inner cities and poor rural communities who are geographically isolated.