A new study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recommended that developing countries invest roughly US$1.2 trillion – on average 3.8 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP), to guarantee at least basic income security and access to essential...
Vice Minister of Healthcare and Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Kazakhstan Yerlan Kiyasov shared Kazakhstan's experience in an online meeting on "The situation with COVID-19 in the European Region: analysis of lessons learned and further actions", organized by the WHO...
The Mozambican Ministry of Finance is preparing a reform of the Specific Consumption Tax (ICE),which includes taxes on tobacco, alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages, cars, and other consumption goods. The country operates in the SADC tax harmonization framework,...
A 35 million euro grant from the European Union (EU) has strengthened COVID-19 response and saved lives in 6 countries in the WHO European Region. Over the course of 1.5 years, the funds have helped deliver nearly 12 million units of personal protective equipment,...
Production of COVID-19 PCR test kits began in Azerbaijan this week by the Diamed Co. Syringe Manufacturing Plant, a local medical factory established as a joint venture between the state and private sector in 2019. The joint venture saw the launch of an all-new...
National Health Accounts (NHA) provide the information on flows of health financing and resource allocation of the country's health system from both public and private health spending. Philippines NHA showed that share of total health expenditures significantly...
In the week since it was rolled out, Oman’s first endowment fund dedicated to public healthcare services has garnered several millions of Omani riyals in contributions from government, public and private sector organisations, and growing numbers of individuals as...
This journal article gives insight into Lebanon’s healthcare response to the COVID 19 pandemic with limited financial resources and an increasingly private and urban health sector. It suggests that 80% of the health care budget in Lebanon is spent on acute care in...
This paper aims to evaluate the progressivity of healthcare financing in Egypt by assessing five financing sources, out-of-pocket payments, an earmarked cigarette tax, direct taxes, indirect taxes, social health insurance and private health insurance. It provides a...
Lebanon has received US$34 million under the World Bank's Lebanon Health Resilience Project to support vaccine procurement. The financing will provide vaccines for over 2 million individuals. The vaccines are expected to arrive in Lebanon by early February...
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affects Malaysia’s economy and household income, especially lower income families. To minimize the impact of economic recession and alleviate the poverty from the pandemic, Malaysia approved budget for 2022 with priorities to support...
Since the establishment of Ghana’s NHIS in 2003, the country has made substantial progress towards its goal of universal health care. As of 2014, the NHIS covered 10.5 million people which is 40% of Ghana’s population. The total number of inpatient and outpatient...
In Philippines, the Department of Health has established the cancer assistance fund to support the Cancer and Supportive-Palliative Medicines Access Program (CSPMAP). The CSPMAP will provide free medicines to cancer patients, aiming to reduce the out-of-the pocket...
On 6th October, 2021, Ghana received over 500,000 doses of Astrazeneca vaccines from Germany, Denmark, Norway and Iceland through the COVAX facility to assist its vaccination programme. Receiving the vaccines, chairman of the health commodity group...
Following the global shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the government of Ghana planned to establish a national vaccine institute. The mandate of the institute would include establishing local vaccine manufacturing plants, deepening research and development for vaccines....
