On April 12, 2023, the Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie, launched phase 1 of universal health coverage (UHC). The launch was made possible by German development cooperation.
The launch of phase 1 of the CSU in Cameroon was presented as “one of the Cameroon government’s most important socio-political reforms”. This is a crucial step in Cameroon’s journey towards universal health coverage, which has been supported by German development cooperation and other development partners for many years.
In this article, Corinne Grainger takes a structured look at the lessons to be learned from German-Cameroonian cooperation in implementing the CSU in Cameroon:
- Adopting a political economy perspective for universal public health ;
- Ensuring solid ownership of universal health insurance reforms
- Developing leadership and cooperation – the P4H network ;
- Strengthening governance – regional funds for health promotion ;
- Working judiciously to remedy fragmentation;
- Thinking together for universal health coverage – the role of BACKUP Health ;
- No public health without digitization – the role of openIMIS ;
- The art of development cooperation.
The Ministry of Public Health is committed to ensuring that some 25 million citizens have access to basic health services through the CSU program, and by October 2023, almost two million people had already signed up. With the government firmly at the helm and the CSU reforms well underway, 2024 promises to be an exciting year.
