An exchange laboratory on AMU in French-speaking West Africa has been organized by WHO in November 2019. 7 French-speaking countries with a strong current dynamic on the subject were brought together (Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo). The participants are: two representatives of the institution in charge of AMU, a representative of the Ministry of Health responsible for the health system where the interaction with direct billing takes place (such as the Director in charge of health care provision), a representative of the Department of Finance or Labor, or of the Prime Minister’s Office or the Presidency in charge of the dossier, and finally the health financing focal point of the WHO country offices. The aim is to bring together technicians from the third-party payer and staff from related ministries, with WHO associating its own staff in the interests of capacity building.
In Saly, each half-day was devoted to a specific country. Each country shared its experience on one or more selected themes. It was a way of getting feedback and a critical look at one’s own trajectory, while at the same time focusing discussions on specific elements of content. A number of health insurance business functions were reviewed, such as beneficiary identification, population registration, cost control, etc. The topics were therefore highly technical, but the instructions were nevertheless to “…ensure that the health insurance system is able to meet the needs of its clients. tell a story “, to share a reading of ” process elements “, or to insist ” on the human ” i.e. the role of individuals and their interactions. In this way, the laboratory enabled us to go into depth without being academic, reporting on challenges, tackling practice, noting procedures and tools, describing collaborations, and following the sometimes winding paths of AMU’s development.
