In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the figures are alarming.... 42% of AIDS patients admitted to Lubumbashi provincial hospital die for lack of money for treatment. These statistics were presented at the Journées Scientifiques, organized jointly by the...
TOGO: Reducing neonatal mortality: details of the “Wezou” program
The Togolese government launched the "Wezou" program this week. This is a specific program dedicated to the care of pregnant women and newborns. It is intended to anticipate the universal health insurance program and significantly reduce maternal and neonatal...
BURKINA FASO-RAMU: over 1,000 insurance cards distributed in the northern region
On Thursday August 26, 2021, the Caisse nationale d'assurance maladie universelle (CNAMU) handed out 1,115 insurance cards to indigent people in Ouahigouya, in the Nord region. These long-awaited cards will enable beneficiaries to obtain quality care free of charge,...
Uganda national minimum healthcare package- a case study
The basic essential healthcare benefit package (EHB) policy interventions aim to optimize efficiency while extending coverage by increasing equity of access to the defined benefits. Many low and middle-income countries introduced or updated EHBs in the 2000s. Uganda’s...
Analytical review of health care reforms in Uganda and its implication on health equity
Uganda Government has continued to strengthen the country’s health system by initiating policy reforms aimed at enhancing equity in health care with the goal of attaining universal health coverage. These reforms include the abolition of user fees and the introduction...
Côte d’Ivoire: A plea for health insurance for farmers
The Minister of Employment and Social Protection, Me Adama Kamara, has pleaded with the government and the President of the Republic for health and retirement insurance for Ivorian farmers. Minister Kamara, who is also Chairman of the Interministerial Committee...
Catastrophic health expenditures arising from out-of-pocket payments: Evidence from South African income and expenditure surveys
Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) represents out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for health care which exceed a specified threshold of household’s income or household’s capacity to pay. This peer reviewed article examines CHE and the potential for such payments to...
Experiences and perceptions of barriers to health services for elderly in rural Namibia
The attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires that no one must be left behind and that all people regardless of their social economic and demographic characteristics have access to quality healthcare. Therefore UHC means that elderly rural populations...
Australian Government COVID-19 disaster payments
Australia provides the COVID-19 Disaster Payment divided into three different rates based on the number of hours of work lost by an eligible recipient and whether or not they are receiving an income support payment: $200 per week for those in receipt of an...
A spatial analysis of out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Malawi
Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on health remain high in many low- and middle-income countries despite policy efforts aiming to reduce these health costs by targeting their hotspots. Hotspot targeting remains inadequate, particularly where the OOP expenditures are...
Utilization of health care and burden of out-of-pocket health expenditure in Zimbabwe: Results from a national household survey
For the past decade, Zimbabwe has undertaken a number of reforms to improve health system performance and service delivery, among them include results-based financing in rural health facilities. This peer reviewed study, examines the utilization of health services and...
Sudan: Moving towards universal health coverage (UHC)
This brief discusses Sudan’s existing national plans and policies to achieve UHC. Among the national plans include the health financing reforms which led to the expansion of the Sudanese National Health Insurance (NHI) from civil servants and formal sector employees...
Sudanese returning migrants to access health insurance
In an effort to achieve universal health coverage, the government of Sudan signed an EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration which ensures that Sudanese returnees access healthcare under the country’s National Health Insurance...
Women Left Behind: Gender Disparities in Utilization of Government Health Insurance in India
A recent study conducted by Pascaline Dupas & Radhika Jain, published in June 2021, reports gender disparities within the Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana (BSBY), a government health insurance program that targets 46 million poor individuals in Rajasthan, India. The...
Revisiting Ayushman Bharat Scheme: Win-win or win-lose?
Disha Bhanot, Assistant Professor at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai writes about how COVID-19 has exposed the dark underbelly of our healthcare system and health insurance schemes may have little chance of achieving sustained benefits. With an...