Do governments have any prima facie duties to fund influenza vaccination (for the elderly in sa) and adults 65 years and above to vaccinate against influenza, respectively?

Abstract

In this dissertation, I draw on the thinking about solidarity, reciprocity, distributive justice, incompleteness and conviviality grounded in African philosophy broadly, including African ethics, African epistemology, African aesthetics, African metaphysics and African logic, to name a few, to argue that institutions, particularly the South African (SA) government, have a prima facie responsibility to fund the influenza vaccination for adults 65 years and above. Equally, I draw on the moral norms arising from the same values grounded in African philosophy to argue that adults 65 years old have a prima facie duty to vaccinate against influenza. These claims address three core issues relevant to fostering influenza vaccine access: availability, affordability and acceptability. While the former claim ensures that influenza vaccinations are affordable and available to the target population group, the latter underscores the obligation of adults 65 years and above to vaccinate to address acceptability issues. Although the dissertation focuses specifically on the South African government to defend its core thesis, I believe the arguments can reasonably be adapted to address the responsibilities of other African governments and older persons in other regions. Notably, these responsibilities are that the SA government should make influenza vaccines freely available for adults 65 years and above in public and private health facilities, provided financial allocation and their extant relationships allow for this. Additionally, the SA government has a responsibility to improve influenza vaccine procurement and availability in the country, preferably through increasing manufacturing capabilities. Furthermore, the dissertation argues that adults 65 years and above have a prima facie responsibility to vaccinate against influenza. Notably, adults 65 years and above have a duty of conviviality to act in ways that limit harm to them and others. This project is intrinsically valuable to promote epistemic justice, thereby contributing towards the decolonization of the global healthcare system. Moreover, this project has social significance in contributing to mitigation efforts against future public health challenges associated with population ageing in resource-limited developing African nations, wherein the impact of population transition will be most felt