Trends in the financialisation of outpatient care across OECD countries
This OECD study examines the growing role of financial actors—such as private equity, pension funds, and insurers—in outpatient health care across OECD countries. Drawing on responses from health ministries and system-level data, it highlights increasing concerns...
Estimating Health Expenditure in the Dominican Republic 2007-2021 Using the SHA Approach 2011
Based on data available from the Dominican Republic's health accounts, Magdalena Rathe of Fundación Plenitud analyzes the country's health spending between 2007 and 2021. Using the 2007 and 2018 national income and expenditure surveys, a triangulation was made with...
Tax systems and policy: Crucial for good health and good governance
The policy brief “Tax Systems and Policy: Crucial for Good Health and Good Governance”, published by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) in May 2025, reframes taxation as a central pillar of equitable and sustainable...
Reproductive health financing in Uganda: results from the national health account study, 2019–2021
Uganda has made significant strides in its journey to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by enhancing the health and survival of women and children during pregnancy, childbirth, and adolescence. This effort began in 2013 with the development of the first...
Budget cap threatens years of Nepal’s healthcare gains
In the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26, Nepal will not initiate any new healthcare programs due to budget cuts, raising concerns about the sustainability of vital public health achievements, particularly in areas like maternal and child health. Officials from the...
Economic burden and determinants among hospitalized patients with epilepsy in Thailand
This study analyzes the direct medical costs of hospitalized epilepsy patients in Thailand. These costs are assessed from both a societal perspective—which includes hospital expenditures and payments made by health insurance schemes—and a patient perspective, which...
Smoke economics: lessons from tobacco ban for e-cigarette regulation in Bhutan
E-cigarettes and Vaping is a growing public health concern among adolescents in Bhutan. Despite a history of stringent tobacco regulations, the rise in vaping and related health issues indicates a need to update laws and impose higher taxes to discourage their use....
A gender levy on harmful products for health equity
A new article in Think Global Health calls for a gender levy on tobacco and alcohol taxes to fund gender-smart health, combat NCDs, and address the industry's manipulation of gender norms.A recent article in Think Global Health by Kent Buse, Jeni Klugman, and Elhadj...
WHA78: Ministers call for country-led solutions amid health financing emergency
Global health leaders at WHA78 call for urgent country-led action to address health financing gaps and strengthen domestic data systems amid declining external support.At the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly on 21 May 2025, ministers from several countries...
Exploring the facilitators and barriers to achieving universal health coverage in Uganda: a qualitative study of the free healthcare policy
Published in Health Research Policy and Systems by BMC (part of Springer Nature), this qualitative study titled "Exploring the facilitators and barriers to achieving universal health coverage in Uganda: a qualitative study of the free healthcare policy" offers...
Enhancing efficiency of healthcare financing
Achieving UHC requires a variety of financing strategies, including government revenue to support those unable to afford care. It involves coordinating these funding mechanisms to create a sustainable health system that serves the needs of all citizens, particularly...
The Unified Health System has 8 million affiliates
The public health insurance system in Bolivia, known as the Unified Health System (SUS), has reached 8 million members. Coverage is provided at all health levels, from primary to hospital care. In Bolivia there is the Unified Health System (SUS), the state program...
Health financing for noncommunicable diseases: Landscape analysis of practices and challenges in the Sub-Saharan Africa region
This landscape analysis by the Financing Accelerator Network for NCDs (FAN) examines the health financing practices and challenges related to NCDs across six exemplar countries in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa. By analysing resource mobilisation, pooling, and...
Rare diseases in France: a subject taken very seriously
France's 7000 rare diseases affect more than 3 million people. France is a pioneer in Europe in implementing a national plan for rare diseases. They are reimbursed up to 100% by the French Assurance Maladie. [ba_gradient_heading title="What is a rare disease?"...
Accelerating progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) in Uzbekistan : A proposal for a National Health System Strategy 2030
The Government of Uzbekistan, with technical support from the World Bank and its partners, has undertaken the development of a comprehensive National Health System Strategy to improve equity, quality, and efficiency across the country’s healthcare landscape. This...