This budget brief explores the extent to which the FY2019/20 National Budget addresses health financing needs of citizens in Malawi, especially children. Specifically, it analyzes the size, composition and equity of allocations to the health sector in FY2019/20. The...
The Sierra Leone free health care initiative: process and effectiveness review
The introduction of the free health care initiative in 2010, which removed user fees for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five was supported by earlier evidence that showed health-related financial costs were a major barrier to mothers and children...

Sierra Leone’s free health care initiative: Financing implications
In 2010 the Government of Sierra Leone established the Free Health Care Initiative removing user fees (on drugs and consultations) for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five. The major objective of the scheme, as far as health financing was...
The right choice: Achieving universal health coverage in Malawi
In Malawi primary healthcare services are provided for free at point of use in all government facilities and selected Christian Association of Malawi facilities through service level agreements). In practice, however, around 70% of the services provided at tertiary...

Thai cabinet approves 42-billion-baht for business affected by COVID
Thai cabinet has approved a 42-billion-baht package of financial assistance for people and businesses affected by the government's partial Covid-19 lockdown, currently implemented in Bangkok and nine other provinces to contain the coronavirus outbreak. For more...

Philippines now covers cartridge based PCR tests
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is now paying for SARS-CoV-2 testing using cartridge-based polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests. The new benefit package ranges from Php 1,059 to Php 2,287 and will be paid directly to the accredited testing...

Evidence-based recommendations for Armenia to improve the Basic Benefit Package for UHC
The World Bank staff and external contributors have produced a report titled “Reforming the Basic Benefits Package in Armenia: Modeling Insights from the Health Interventions Prioritization Tool”. The full text of the report is available here, and on this page (see...
Community-based Health Insurance Program in Ethiopia: Assessing Institutional and Financial Sustainability
This study examines the financial sustainability of CBHI schemes, focusing on schemes that have been operational for more than two years, and provides descriptions of institutional structures, human resource capacity, engagement and commitment of key stakeholders, and...
Ethiopia’s Community-based Health Insurance: A Step on the Road to Universal Health Coverage
In the last 10 years, Africa has witnessed a renewed interest in Community-based Health Insurance (CBHI) schemes as countries leverage communities to expand risk-pooling coverage to informal sectors and the rural population. Among African countries, Ethiopia’s...
The Effect of Ethiopia’s Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme on Revenues and Quality of Care
This paper relies on a difference-in-differences approach applied to both panel and cross-section data. We find that CBHI-affiliated facilities experience a 111% increase in annual outpatient visits and annual revenues increase by 47%. Increased revenues are used to...

Can Armenia Better Leverage its Basic Benefit Package for Universal Health Coverage?
Nicole Fraser, Adanna Chukwuma, Marianna Koshkakaryan, Lusine Yengibaryan, Xiaohui Hou, Tommy Wilkinson, Christina Meyer When Armenia introduced its first Basic Benefits Package (BBP) in 1997, the average life expectancy at birth was 70 years and the under-five...

Thailand plans to use public funds to cover cost of home care for COVID patients
National Health Security Office, Thailand will cover costs of home care for asymptomatic or mild-symptom COVID-19 patients, aiming to reduce crowd in the hospitals, especially in Bangkok and metropolitan area. Home care includes online consulting with physicians,...
Essential Health Services Package of Ethiopia
The Essential Health Service Package, launched in November 2019, aims to provide access to quality health services without any financial challenges regardless of age, ability to pay and economic status, and geographic location for the population in Ethiopia.
Prioritizing Essential Packages of Health Services in six countries in SSA
This document presents case studies from six African countries (Eswatini, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa) and: • reviews the process by which prioritized SRHR interventions were included in countries’ health benefits packages; • discusses...
Protocol for Prioritization of Health Interventions for Revision of the Essential Health service Package in Ethiopia
Priority setting is selecting interventions, among long-list of options, which can address the most important health needs of the population. However, selection of specific intervention to be included in the Essential Health Service Package or health insurance benefit...