Data of Bugdet Household Surveys have been compiled to estimate incidence of catastrophic expenditure in Africa, available at McIntyre, D. et al (2018): Challenges in Financing Universal Health Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa, published by the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance.
Mozambique apperars in the low end of catastrophic expenditure risk, measured with the threshold of 10% of non-food expenditure. Only 0,5% of the population, namely the Quintile 5 accessing private health facilites, would exceed this threshold.
Interestingly, this ordered list is significantly different from the Out-of-pocket list, lead by Botswana, Nambibia, South Africa, Mozambique in the low end of OOP incidence. This difference can imply that countries with higher OOP manage to reduce catatrophic risk (Zambia), and other with low OOP push patients into high-priced private sector. The relationship between OOP and the relative weight of private sector can be consulted at Bayarsaikhan and Musango (2016).
Besides this positive message in financial protection, Mozambique is in the way of expanding the reach and specially the quality of its National Health Service. Low user fees and low risk of catastrophic expenditure must go hand by hand with accessible and comprehensive services to ensure a real way to UHC.
