South Korea Faces Fiscal Crisis in National Health Insurance
South Korea’s national health insurance system is facing a financial crisis, with rising premiums unlikely to ensure long-term fiscal stability, prompting the government to propose abolishing the subsidy sunset system and increasing state funding. However, experts...
Time for Africa to Replace the Curative Consumption Trap with Health Production Model
Africa’s health systems remain trapped in a costly, hospital-centered model focused on treating illness rather than preventing it, which is unsustainable given limited resources and a growing burden of non-communicable diseases. To achieve universal health coverage,...
Egypt steps up health reform with Japan-backed universal coverage initiative
The Egypt Healthcare Authority, in partnership with JICA, has launched the E-PaCC project to expand patient-centred care by 2027, as part of Egypt’s broader healthcare reform. This initiative, which includes international partnerships and advanced quality tools,...
Private equity investment in long-term care: The case of Ireland
Private equity (PE) firms play a significant role in the financialisation of healthcare systems, yet research has largely overlooked their direct involvement, especially outside the U.S. This study investigates the drivers behind PE investments in Ireland’s long-term...
Impact of Medical Insurance Penetration and Macroeconomic Factors on Healthcare Expenditure and Quality Outcomes in Saudi Arabia
The study analyzed the determinants of the Healthcare Quality Index (HQI) in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2024 to assess both short-term dynamics and long-term relationships among key economic and healthcare variables. Findings reveal that, in the short term, GDP and...
Health financing progress matrix assessment: Kazakhstan 2023
The report assesses Kazakhstan's health financing system using the WHO Health Financing Progress Matrix, highlighting significant improvements in coverage and reliance on public funding over the past two decades. However, it identifies challenges such as low public...
ATOM Coalition launches health financing case studies to improve cancer care in LLMICs
The ATOM Coalition's new case studies examine cancer care financing in Georgia, Kenya, the Philippines, and Zambia, offering policy insights to strengthen access in low- and middle-income countries. The Access to Oncology Medicines (ATOM) Coalition, led by the Union...
Tax reform in Africa could fill health funding gaps
As foreign aid dwindles, African nations are urged to improve tax systems to fund health needs. Experts stress the need for fairer, more transparent taxation to rebuild public trust. With foreign aid cuts deepening healthcare crises across Africa, experts and...
Cameroon’s parliament endorses bold action plan to strengthen malaria fight
Cameroonian MPs have endorsed a 2025-2026 action plan to strengthen the national fight against malaria, urging increased domestic funding and multisector collaboration.Members of Cameroon’s Parliamentary Caucus for Health Financing have adopted a new action plan to...
Financing Sustainable Development: How ADB’s Theme Bonds are Transforming the Region
Since 2010, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised over $18 billion through specialized theme bonds to address critical challenges in water, education, and healthcare across the Asia-Pacific region, significantly improving access to clean water, educational...
How Sri Lanka’s immunisation system is weathering an economic crisis
M. P. Nirmala, a 26-year-old woman who is a few weeks pregnant with her first child, embodies the confidence many Sri Lankan mothers feel about the country’s healthcare system. At the Divisional Hospital Thalangama, located about 9 kilometers from Colombo, Nirmala...
A new vision for universal health coverage in an age of global displacement
A Lancet Public Health article calls for a cosmopolitan approach to UHC that ensures migrants and refugees have equitable access to health care through global solidarity and inclusive financing.As global migration and displacement reshape societies, a new Lancet...
New OJK Regulation Requires 10% Co-Payment for Health Insurance Claims in Indonesia
The Financial Services Authority (OJK) will implement new regulations from January 1, 2026, requiring commercial health insurance products to adopt a co-payment scheme, coordinate benefits with the National Health Insurance program, and establish a Medical Advisory...
Reconfiguring health purchasing for universal health coverage: insights from Nepal with relevance to low- and middle-income countries
Nepal's shift to federalism and the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) aimed for universal health coverage, but persistent structural flaws undermine strategic purchasing and system efficiency. The Ministry of Health and Population’s conflicting roles as...
Transforming Health Care Access in the Pacific Islands
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need to invest in the service capability and resilience of the health systems of Pacific Island countries. Responding to this need, the World Bank launched three Health System Strengthening operations in Samoa (2020), Kiribati...