The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's weekly roundup of headlines from around the globe
Governments around the world are engaging in serious political and technical discussions on how to expand health coverage. Still others are considering such reforms, but are struggling to navigate the legal, financial, and political frameworks of their countries to determine the best path towards reform.
Below is a list of UHC-related headlines from around the world:
General News
World Health Organization will web-stream portions of the Barcelona Course on Health Financing: The World Health Organization will web-stream portions of the second Barcelona Course on Health Financing from May 14-18, 2012.
Global push to guarantee health coverage leaves U.S. behind: The Los Angeles Times recently posted a great article on the global push towards universal health coverage. [Source: The Los Angeles Times]
China
China provides universal health insurance at a fraction of the cost: This week, Chinese officials approved a five-year plan to develop a comprehensive nationwide social security network to meet the changing needs of the country’s 1.3 billion people. [Source: The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University]
India
The Indian government aims to control health rot, appoints 2 top officials: In a bid to put the derailed health insurance coverage meant for below poverty line families back on track, the state government on Thursday, appointed secretary to chief minister, Alok Kumar as chief executive officer of the centrally-sponsored Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. [Source: The Times of India]
Indonesia
Indonesia's National Health Scheme untapped: Jamkesmas, the national health insurance scheme for the poor, is paying out far less in claims than other coverage plans provided by the state, despite having the biggest number of subscribers, the government has revealed. [Source: Jakarta Globe]
Nigeria
Nigerian state of Ogun to start community-based healthcare insurance scheme: Dr Olaokun Soyinka, the Commissioner for Health, has announced that the Ogun government will start community-based health insurance scheme (CBHIS) beginning in August 2012. [Source: Vanguard]
Philippines
Congress urged to rethink use of sin taxes for universal health coverage program: A senior administration lawmaker urged his colleagues to think twice before providing funds to the Department of Health (DOH)’s universal health care program out of projected revenues from a bill seeking to impose higher taxes on alcohol and tobacco products. [Source: PhilStar.com]
South Africa
Motsoaledi updates South Africa on NHI: The South African government has already started appointing medical specialists to work in National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot areas according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. [Source: iAfrica.com]
Thailand
Thailand’s Universal Coverage Scheme: Achievements and Challenges: A new assessment shows that there were extraordinary achievements in the first ten years of universal health coverage in Thailand.
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