WHO Report: Out-of-Pocket Health Costs make healthcare unaffordable for European Households
WHO/Europe report unveils the concerning situation where numerous households in the region face impoverishment due to healthcare expenses, emphasizing the critical need for reform The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a comprehensive report titled "Can...
The Pandemic Fund announces 500 million dollars in 2nd round of funding
The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board has approved a $500 million grant for its second round of funding, aiming to assist low and middle-income countries in enhancing pandemic preparedness. The online application portal opens in late February, closing on May 17, 2024,...
WHO facilitated knowledge exchange among six countries on pricing and reimbursement of medicines
As reported by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of Tajikistan and by the State Health Insurance Fund of Uzbekistan, WHO-Europe has conducted a training on pricing and reimbursement of medicines and medical supplies for national...
Workshop on monitoring and evaluation of the social health insurance schemes
ILO, with P4H, facilitated an event from 11-14th December 2023 to train NHIMA staff to monitor social health insurance schemes. NHIMA drives UHC efforts in Zambia via NHIS, extending coverage to vulnerable populations. Effective monitoring is crucial for pilot phase...
COP 28: 41 funders, partners endorse new guiding principles for financing climate and health solutions
A consortium of multilateral development banks and funders, countries and philanthropies published the Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions (“Guiding Principles”), announced at the World Climate Action Summit at the 28th session of Conference...
Namibia launches tools to improve health financing
Namibia launched the National Health Account (NHA) and National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) tools to measure and track health spending in the country, aiming to improve health financing on 6 December.Speaking at the launch, Minister of Health and Social Services...
Accelerating Sustainable Health Financing in Africa: The Africa Leaders Meeting (ALM) Declaration in Action
African Constituency Bureau's coverage of the 3rd International Conference on Public Health in Africa, held in Lusaka, Zambia, from November 27-30 linking it with the Africa Leaders Meeting (ALM) Declaration. The 3rd International Conference on Public Health in...
Kenya: High Court suspends implementation of Social Health Insurance Act
Putting a halt to the government's plans, Kenya's High Court suspended the planned implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 by the Ministry of Health until February 2024.In a brief ruling rendered by Justice Chacha Mwita on Monday, November 27, 2023,...
Tanzania enacts the Universal Health Insurance Bill
On November 1, 2023, the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania enacted the Universal Health Insurance Bill, a pivotal piece of legislation aimed at ensuring widespread access to healthcare services for citizens through a comprehensive health insurance system....
Gender blindness in social health protection could deter Africa’s progress towards universal health coverage
In recent years social protection has gained increased recognition as a powerful tool for poverty alleviation and vulnerability reduction. The International Labour Organization acknowledges its significance, and it's explicitly incorporated into the United Nations...
Colombia introduces junk food tax
Colombia has implemented a tax on ultra-processed foods, becoming one of the first countries in the Americas to take such a measure to tackle obesity, diabetes, and other lifestyle diseases.The Lancet reports that Colombia is one of the first to tax food high in salt...
Malaysia MOH Moots National Health Insurance With Employee, Employer, Government Contributions
Malaysia is exploring a national health insurance scheme funded by employees, employers, and the government that will be “run by the government, non-profit driven, and uses the philosophy of shared responsibility," says Dr Zaliha Mustafa, the Minister of...
Montreux Collaborative
The Montreux Collaborative is a WHO led platform for collaboration between countries and development partners. It aims to generate and disseminate global and country evidence on how to make budgets work for health, with a specific focus on transforming budget...
Health policy and system research cocreation pilot convening in Asia
In May 2021, the HSSA launched a series of virtual meetings to cocreate a vision and action plan for a more responsive and robust health policy and system research ecosystem in Asia. The P4H Network and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research agreed to...
Update on P4H Network collaboration on the Mexican Health System Transformation
As reported in the September 2022 governance newsletter, the P4H Network began a collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) office in Mexico, looking at the political economy of the ongoing Mexican health system transformation. At that time, terms...