Universal health coverage (UHC) is a national goal adopted by many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (and elsewhere in the world). While global consensus and support for CSU initiatives is notable, many countries still face difficulties in extending health coverage, largely due to problems in implementing the policies and strategies developed to advance CSU. ACS (from the English African Collaborative for Health Financing Solutions) joined these efforts in mid-2017 with the mission of facilitating national collaborative processes in the countries concerned to try to identify and overcome issues in connection with the strategies, policies and implementation designed to advance UHC in sub-Saharan Africa.
The ACS project began with a period of intensive listening (“consultation phase”), during which we interviewed around 150 people representing a variety of stakeholder profiles in five different countries, and some 50 global and sub-regional institutions and networks. At the end of this period, ACS organized a regional workshop in Accra, Ghana, from February 13 to 15, 2018. The event brought together a group of 60 participants with varied backgrounds from the countries consulted, including representatives from government, the private sector and civil society, as well as researchers, elected leaders and other “carrying voices” from the continent often left out of CSU dialogue and political processes.