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...
Public sector reforms gather momentum and Malawi introduces revenue generation in health facilities
The Malawi health sector is predominantly donor funded (about 58% of the total health expenditure). To ensure reliable and sustainable financing of the health sector, the government of Malawi has embarked on a number of reforms through innovative health financing. One...
Malaysia announces massive COVID-19 aid package as Thailand tightens restrictions
Malaysia announced a public spending 150 billion ringgit ($36.2 billion) for aid and stimulus package to battle the COVID-19 outbreaks. Moreover, Malaysia plans to allocate another 1 billion ringgit ($241 million) to ramp up its inoculation program,...
Accelerating broad and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine in Ethiopia
In an effort to accelerate fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, the World Bank is providing additional financing to the Ethiopia COVID-19 Emergency Response Project in the form of a grant totaling $207 million to finance vaccine acquisition and deployment...
Zambia gets additional financial support of $24 Million to procure and equitably distribute COVID-19 Vaccines
The government of Zambia has been approved to get additional financing of $24 million to acquire and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Of the total amount, $14 million is credit provided by the International Development Association (IDA), and $10 million is...
Review of health financing, expenditure and service delivery in Zambia
Ensuring adequate access to quality health services, whether preventative or curative, is critical for a country to ensure that its population attain better health outcomes. In this context, universal health coverage (UHC), embedded within sustainable development...
Hardship financing of out-of-pocket (OOP) payments in the context of free healthcare in Zambia
High levels of out-of-pocket spending have been shown to be one of the biggest health reasons people fall into poverty when accessing care, or choose to forgo care. Globally it is estimated that 100 million people are pushed into poverty every year due to exorbitant...
CONGO ECONOMY/FINANCE LAW 2021: A NEW TAX INSTITUTED ON UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE
Congo has instituted Universal Health Insurance Coverage (CAMU) in the 2021 Finance Act. This new tax is one of the new elements instituted in this law, the popularization campaign for which was launched on Monday February 22, 2021 in Brazzaville. Initiated by...
WHO Barcelona Office warns Ukraine about the potential consequences of introducing co-payments
Part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing has published a policy brief titled “Co-payment policy: considerations for Ukraine”, which contains policy recommendations regarding co-payments [1]. In its description that...
Bhutan earmarks Nu 3 billion to response COVID-19
The Bhutan government has earmarked a budget of Nu 3 billion to response COVID-19. This earmarked budget will be allocated to containment related expenses such as quarantine expenses, procurement of test kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and...
Budget 2021: $1.4 billion allocated to New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccination programme
New Zealand will spend $1.4 billion for COVID-19 vaccination programme. The buget has been allocated to purchasing vaccines and specialist equipment, manufacturer advance purchase agreements, technology cost to support the rollout, and other...
Indonesia to invest US$ 500 million to finance its COVID 19 response
The funding provides for a results-based approach to encourage the use of government systems and augments previous financing that has supported Indonesia’s health systems strengthening. This investment will support the government's free vaccination program to reach...
Health system (in Morocco): A greater role for the Sheikh Zaïd and Sheikh Khalifa Foundations
The Government Council, meeting on Thursday June 17, adopted two bills. The first relates to the Sheikh Zaïd Ibn Soltan Foundation and the second to the Sheikh Khalifa Ibn Zaïd Foundation. Here are the details of the changes.
Health system (in Morocco): A greater role for the Sheikh Zaïd and Sheikh Khalifa Foundations
The Government Council, meeting on Thursday June 17, adopted two bills. The first relates to the Sheikh Zaïd Ibn Soltan Foundation and the second to the Sheikh Khalifa Ibn Zaïd Foundation. Here are the details of the changes.
For Universal Healthcare, the Philippines Tries “Sin Taxes”
Rising healthcare costs in The Philippines owing to inadequate public investment prevents citizens from going for regular checkups and the country from achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). To address this, three laws that have come into legislation in the recent...