Utilization of health care and burden of out-of-pocket health expenditure in Zimbabwe: Results from a national household survey
For the past decade, Zimbabwe has undertaken a number of reforms to improve health system performance and service delivery, among them include results-based financing in rural health facilities. This peer reviewed study, examines the utilization of health services and...
Zimbabwe 2017 health financing strategy
The 2017 Zimbabwe national health financing strategy outlines specific reform initiatives around financing arrangements in the health sector that are necessary for achieving goals and objectives that have been set for the health system. In this document, goals and...
Exploring health insurance services in Sudan from the perspectives of insurers
A range of health insurance options including Social Health Insurance exist in Sudan. Social Health Insurance is compulsory for the formal sector, although voluntary for the informal sector and small companies (≤10 employees). Private health insurance companies...
Sudan: Moving towards universal health coverage (UHC)
This brief discusses Sudan’s existing national plans and policies to achieve UHC. Among the national plans include the health financing reforms which led to the expansion of the Sudanese National Health Insurance (NHI) from civil servants and formal sector employees...
Achieving sustainable health financing in Zambia: prospects and advocacy opportunities for domestic resource mobilization
Zambia has demonstrated significant commitment to increasing domestic expenditure on health to ensure sustainable health sector financing. From 2003 to 2014, government health expenditure increased from US$67 million to US$514 million. However, beginning in 2013, the...
Australia approves COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15
Australia's drug regulator has approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for use with children aged 12 to 15. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has thoroughly assessed the domestic and international evidence before extending its approval for the...
Nepal rolls out COVID-19 vaccination for people living with disabilities
Nepal has started to vaccinate people with disabilities across the country against the coronavirus with the Johnson & Johnson single-shot jab. All differently-abled individuals with either their citizenship card or disability ID card are eligible for the J&J...
Japan considers a second COVID-19 payment to vulnerable households
The Japan government is considering to provide monthly payments for needy households to help ease the financial strain due to COVID-19 pandemic. Considering monthly payments are ¥60,000 for single-member households, ¥80,000 for two-person...
Sudan to benefit from a US100 million grant to boost COVID-19 Response
The Government of Sudan signed a grant agreement of US$100 million to boost the country’s COVID-19 response and expand vaccination coverage in the country. This is the first grant from the International Development Association (IDA) following the arrears...
Indonesia will increase social and health spending in response to COVID-19
Indonesia will increase social assistance and healthcare spending in response to a rise of COVID-19 cases and to soften the economic recession due to tougher restrictions. 126.79 trillion rupiah (US$8.72 billion) of social assistance will be provided to...
Thailand will provide antigen tests free to consumers
National Health Security Office (NHSO) plans to purchase more than 8.5 million antigen test kits and hand them to Thais and migrant workers for free. The plan was endorsed by the NHSO board chaired by Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, during...
Sudanese returning migrants to access health insurance
In an effort to achieve universal health coverage, the government of Sudan signed an EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration which ensures that Sudanese returnees access healthcare under the country’s National Health Insurance...
Zimbabwe gets $13.7 million to strengthen health system and boost anti-COVID-19 efforts
The government of Zimbabwe has received a grant of US$13.7 million to finance the COVID-19 response in the country. The funds are expected to provide an immediate lifeline for targeted frontline responders and health personnel and boost the country’s Global Health...
Health Insurance as a Healthcare Financing Mechanism in India: Key Strategic Insights
Both central and state governments have introduced various health insurance programmes to improve protection against catastrophic health expenditure. Private voluntary insurance has also grown in terms of lives covered and premiums collected during the last decade....
Women Left Behind: Gender Disparities in Utilization of Government Health Insurance in India
A recent study conducted by Pascaline Dupas & Radhika Jain, published in June 2021, reports gender disparities within the Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana (BSBY), a government health insurance program that targets 46 million poor individuals in Rajasthan, India. The...