The challenges of the effectiveness of the planning process in the West African Health Systems

Health planning is one of the main activities in Health Systems management. It is considered as an important function by the health managers and technicians. Indeed, important resources and time are allocated to this activity. Today, evidence shows that, partly under the influence of some key partners, the health planning process has become an expensive process whose outcomes are, at the very least, questionable. The produced plans are rarely implemented in a systematic way. Several software programs to support the planning process exist. However, they are either misused or not used by the technicians. In a more general way, the "Business As Usual" model for solving public health problems deserves to be questioned. There is a need to move towards more engaging and pragmatic approaches to address the major challenges of Public Health in Africa.