By Augustine Asante, Ir Por, Bart Jacobs and Virginia Wiseman
Universal health coverage (UHC) appears to be on everybody’s agenda these days, especially low- and middle- income countries (LIMCs). But achieving UHC goes beyond having it on one’s agenda; it requires, among other things, an equitable health financing system that ensures the benefits from health financing are distributed on the basis of need, and the burden of paying for health care is shared according to ability-to-pay. Such financing systems must also offer adequate protection against the risk of health payments. Many LMICs have undertaken significant reforms in the last decade to strengthen their health financing systems to improve equity and accelerate progress towards UHC. But have these reforms moved the countries any closer to UHC? A new supplement in Health Policy and Planning provides evidence on the equity impact of health financing reforms in three countries in the lower-Mekong region of Southeast Asia – Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. The countries, though different in many aspects, have much in common: recently attained lower-middle income status, fast growing economies, history of armed conflict and civil strife, and health systems that are among the weakest in the region. Read more
