Active vs. passive identification of the poorest: Is there a preferred approach?
Countries face many challenges in designing and implementing successful health care policies and programs to reach the poorest. Although most countries have introduced exemption and waiver programs aimed at removing or mitigating the impact of user fees for the poorest, many of these programs fall short of achieving their intended effect. Lack of clarity around who the poor are, where they live, and their movement in and out of poverty often result in errors of inclusion where the non-poor benefit from services that are meant for the poor, and errors of exclusion where the target population is missed.
Additional factors that add to the already difficult task of reaching the poor include:
- Lack of strong information, education and communication strategies, which means that the poor often remain unaware of programs and services that are intended to reach them.
- Providers who are unclear about eligibility criteria do not extend services to the right populations.
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.
From Scheme to System—How can we better leverage RBF to strengthen health purchasing?
When results-based financing, or in particular, supply-side pay-for-performance schemes, became the new “it-girl” in health financing, some of us looked on with a bit of amusement because what we knew as health care provider payment was dressed up in sexy new clothes. We were all familiar with RBF programs such as those in Rwanda and Burundi, which brought incentives and accountability to health systems devastated by conflict or other crises. But was this approach relevant to countries such as Ghana and Kyrgyzstan that have health purchasing and provider payment systems that are already relatively mature? The amusement morphed into a conceptual divide as a number of new RBF pilots emerged that seemed either to ignore, or in the worst cases, go against, these existing health purchasing arrangements.
Universal Health Coverage Resolution adopted at the UN General Assembly
A decisive step to address health inequality and poverty
Globally, millions of people are denied the right to health because they lack access to health care. Each year, 100 million people – the equivalent of the combined populations of Spain, Poland and the Netherlands - are plunged into poverty because they do not have any form of social protection. This is a reality that dramatically impacts not only on an individuals’ health and life expectancy, but also the lives of their families and the economies to which they contribute.
The resolution ‘Moving Towards Universal Health Coverage’ adopted by the UN General Assembly today (December 12th), is a decisive step in the fight against health inequality and the drive to improve people’s health outcomes.
UN approves universal health coverage resolution
UN general assembly vote could put universal health coverage on new development agenda
After two months of negotiations among UN Member States in New York, the United Nations General Assembly is expected to approve a resolution on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Sponsored by France, Thailand, Senegal, Norway, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia, the resolution aims to maintain the global commitment for UHC, with the goal of ensuring access to essential services and reducing poverty from catastrophic healthcare expenditures.
The resolution urges UN Members States to consider the inclusion of UHC at all stages of post-Millennium Development Goals discussions and negotiations, which are being led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. The document also commits Member States to ongoing discussions on how best to promote UHC at the national, regional and global levels and sets the stage for a High Level Meeting on UHC in 2013.
“Everyone should be able to obtain the health services they need without the fear of financial ruin or becoming impoverished.
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
Financing Health in Latin America: Household Spending and Impoverishment: Overwhelming evidence from low and middle income countries (LMICs) from all developing regions, and from uninsured populations in high income countries, has elucidated the devastating health and financial impact of lack of financial protection (Knaul, et al., 2006; van Doorslaer, et al., 2006; WHO, 2010).
HIV and health rights in the context of the universal health coverage - UNDP Thailand
A ‘Regional Workshop: HIV/AIDS Health Care Services in Universal Health Coverage,’ hosted by UNDP Thailand and the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), took place in Bangkok from 26-29 November, 2012. Nearly 50 participants from 4 ASEAN countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines participated in the regional gathering, including senior policy makers, CSO representatives and scholars.
“This is a great example of South-South Cooperation among ASEAN countries—and a regional partnership that will continue for years to come,” said Luc Stevens, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Thailand.
The workshop was designed to equip the participants with innovative and pro-poor approaches and systems that underlie Thailand’s Universal Health Coverage scheme (UHC), which is regarded as one of the best models in the world.
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.
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
Universal health coverage: from technical report to global movement: In November 2010, WHO launched ‘The world health report 2010 – Health systems financing: the path to universal coverage’. The concept of UHC has galvanized the wider global public health community, uniting a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental actors striving to improve human welfare. In the European Region, UHC is a central strategy for achieving the goals of Health 2020.
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.