Malawi’s interest in social health insurance dates back to 2011 as a means to reduce donor dependency and increase domestic resource mobilization for health. In May 2015 the Malawian Ministry of Health (MOH) contacted one of its external partners to conduct an...
Decomposing socio-economic inequality in catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditures in Malawi
Socio-economic inequality in out-of-pocket health expenditures entails disparities in the burden of catastrophic health expenditures which worsens inequalities in access to and utilization of health services. Addressing the factors contributing to the inequalities is...
Strategies for financing social health insurance schemes for providing universal health care: a comparative analysis of five African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania)
Social health insurance is increasingly being considered as a mechanism for providing financial protection and moving towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In recent years there has been a political will and interest to explore the implementation of National Health...
A new document has been added to the Zambia country page
The Zambia 2018 National Health Insurance Act has been added to the country's document section. The Act provides guidance on the implementation and management of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Zambia. The full document can be found on the link below
The National Health Insurance Management Authority provides an update on the performance and status of the Zambia National Health Insurance Scheme
The board of the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) was established in 2019 to facilitate the implementation of the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). In this circular, the NHIMA provides an update on the milestones attained and...
Equity of health financing in Indonesia: A 5-year financing incidence analysis (2015–2019)
In 2014, Indonesia launched a single payer national health insurance scheme or the JKN, expecting to cover the entire population by 2024. This study aims to assess the equity of the health financing system in Indonesia during 2015 – 2019 by analysing a secondary...
New document on equity of health financing in Indonesia is now available
In 2014, Indonesia launched a single payer national health insurance scheme or the JKN, expecting to cover the entire population by 2024. This study aims to assess the equity of the health financing system in Indonesia during 2015 – 2019 by analysing a secondary...
South Africa’s COVID-19 response Gets a $750 million boost
On 20 January 2022, the South African Government received a low-interest Development Policy Loan (DPL) of $750 million from the World Bank Group to support its efforts to accelerate the COVID-19 response aimed at protecting the poor and vulnerable from the adverse...
The Malawi parliament’s cluster committee on Health, HIV and Aids, and Nutrition pushes for an increase in health budget to ensure adequate financing for Universal Health Coverage.
In the budget presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe at the parliament earlier in March this year, the health sector was allocated the third-highest sectoral allocation behind education and agriculture, which amounts to about US$349...
Out-of-pocket payment for healthcare among urban citizens in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Out-of-pocket (OOP) payment is the major source of finance for healthcare in Bangladesh, and the share of OOP expenditure has increased significantly. This study aimed to capture the self-reported illnesses among urban citizens and to identify whether and to what...
Singapore approves S$6 billion to continuously support the COVID-19 public health expenditure
Singapore approves S$6 billion from past reserves to fund a “multi-pronged approach”, aiming to continue supporting COVID-19 public health expenditure for financial year 2022. Despite preparing for a new normal transition, Singapore still considers that it is not yet...
New document on out-of-pocket payment for healthcare among urban citizens in Bangladesh is now available
Out-of-pocket (OOP) payment is the major source of finance for healthcare in Bangladesh, and the share of OOP expenditure has increased significantly. This study aimed to capture the self-reported illnesses among urban citizens and to identify whether and to what...
Japan pledges $500 million for global vaccine-sharing efforts
Japan is one of the major contributors in funding initiatives for vaccines. Japan will contribute up to $500 million to U.N.-backed efforts to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines especially among lower-income countries. The collaboration is co-hosted by Gavi, a...
Transition to program budgeting in Uganda: status of the reform and preliminary lessons for health
To make sustainable progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), public health financing is very critical. Uganda has taken major budgetary reforms to optimize budget planning, transparency, and accountability since the early 2000s. The two major reforms over...
A new document on the transition to Program Based Budgeting and its implication on health has been posted on the Uganda country page
The report describes Uganda's transition process to programme-based budget, as a means to better align with public policy priorities and enhance accountability and transparency. It also discusses what the implications are for the health sector. The report...