- South Africa has the best healthcare system, closely followed by Kenya.
- Both South Africa and Kenya boast some of the best and most well-equipped hospitals in Africa.
- The list of the best healthcare in Africa is the courtesy of NUMBEO’s Health Care Index 2025
A couple of African countries have advanced their healthcare systems in a bid to meet global standards owing to the growing need for robust care to mitigate the chronic and endemic diseases affecting their rapidly rising populations. But what makes some African countries have the best healthcare systems?
Infrastructural improvement, technological leverage, skilled manpower, and insurance schemes targeted at the most vulnerable populations seem to have been pivotal in realizing better healthcare on the continent. However, more than half of African countries are yet to upgrade their healthcare systems to standardized levels.
According to NUMBEO’s Health Care Index, South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, and Ghana are among the African countries with the best healthcare systems as of January 2025.
South Africa leads the continent with a Health Care Index score of 63.8. The country is known for its high standard of health care, backed by both a strong private health care sector and public health care system.
South Africa has a well-developed private healthcare sector, known for high-quality services and state-of-the-art medical facilities, predominantly accessible to a wealthier population with medical aid or health insurance.
Similarly, South Africa’s public healthcare system serves the larger population of low-income earners, making it the most jeopardized sector faced with inadequate funding and poor management. The government has, however, initiated the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme to enhance healthcare accessibility and quality—akin to realizing the universal healthcare coverage.
South Africa boasts a network of well-equipped hospitals, clinics, and medical centers known for their high-quality care, attracting patients from across Africa and beyond. These medical facilities are located in major cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban.
Some of the best hospitals in South Africa are Mediclinic, Netcare, Busamed Hospitals, and Life Healthcare Hospitals. Chris Hani Baragwanath is Africa’s largest hospital and a major teaching hospital for the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School.
Kenya ranks second with a Health Care Index score of 62.0. Kenya has made significant strides in expanding access to primary healthcare services and improving the quality of its healthcare system in the last ten years.
In March 2024, Kenya secured $215 million aimed at bolstering its primary healthcare services, improving the quality and utilization of these services to largely benefit women, children, and low-income communities.
In October 1st, 2024, as part of the government’s commitment to achieving universal health coverage, Kenya officially launched the Social Health Authority (SHA) program, which has since registered close to 20 million Kenyans aimed at providing equitable access to healthcare services. The Taifa Care as a rocketship of SHA has, however, faced myriads of challenges since its launch.
Some of the best hospitals in Kenya are the Aga Khan University Hospital, renowned for its high-quality medical services and advanced facilities; the Kenya National Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in East and Central Africa; the Nairobi Hospital; and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
