Universal Health Coverage: Global Voices
World Bank chief favours equitable models of health financing
(The Hindu) -
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Tuesday said user charges on healthcare to poor, no matter how tiny, were “unjust and unnecessary”, and voted for cash transfers instead.
Addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva on ‘Poverty, Health and the Human Future’, the World Bank President called upon countries to go for universal health coverage by introducing “equitable models of health financing along with social protection measures such as cash transfers for vulnerable households.”
On user charges, he said: “anyone who has provided healthcare to poor people knows that even tiny out-of-pocket charges can drastically reduce their use of needed services.
World Bank calls for affordable health care services
(Ghana Business News) - The World Bank Group would help countries tackle two major challenges as they advance toward universal health coverage: to ensure no family is forced into poverty because of health care expenses, and to close the gap in access to health services and public health protection for the poorest 40% of the population in every country, the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim has said.
He therefore called on countries gathered at the 66th World Health Assembly to ensure universal access to quality, affordable health services to help end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity.
In a press release issued May 21, 2013, it said worldwide estimates are that out-of-pocket health spending forces 100 million people into extreme poverty every year and inflicts severe financial hardship on another 150 million people.
“To free the world from absolute poverty by 2030, countries must ensure that all of their citizens have access to quality, affordable he
Reps explain delay in passage of Health, Insurance Commission bills
(The Guardian - Nigeria) - THE House of Representatives is placing squarely on the shoulders of the Senate the delay in the passage of the National Health Bill (NHB) and the Bill Establishing a Commission on National Health Insurance (NHIC) with more regulatory duties from the existing National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
On the international front, India and Nigeria will battle it out at the 66th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, for the headship of member-states’ mechanism on substandard/spurious/falsely labelled/falsified/counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products.
The Guardian learnt on Tuesday at the WHA in Geneva, Switzerland, that India was opposed to Nigeria, represented by the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr.
World Bank Group President Urges Countries to Deliver Universal Health Coverage to Help End Poverty
(World Bank Group) - World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim called on countries gathered at the 66th World Health Assembly to ensure universal access to quality, affordable health services to help end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity. Worldwide estimates are that out-of-pocket health spending forces 100 million people into extreme poverty every year and inflicts severe financial hardship on another 150 million people.
“To free the world from absolute poverty by 2030, countries must ensure that all of their citizens have access to quality, affordable health services,” said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group.
World Health Assembly opens to discuss major health issues
(The World Health Organization) - WHO's Health Assembly, the world's largest health policy-making body, opened its 66th Session today in Geneva with around 3000 participants from around the world.
WHO Director-General addresses the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly
(The World Health Organization) - Mister President, Excellencies, honourable ministers, distinguished delegates, friends and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
Ten years ago, the World Health Assembly met under a cloud of anxiety. SARS, the first severe new disease of the 21st century, was spreading explosively along the routes of international air travel, placing any city with an international airport at risk of imported cases.
By early July of that year, less than four months after the first global alerts were issued, WHO could declare the outbreak over. Rarely has the world collaborated, on so many levels, with such a strong sense of shared purpose.
Experiences during the SARS outbreak sparked extensive revisions of the International Health Regulations.
NHSO delays UC co-payment talks
(The Bangkok Post) - The National Health Security Office (NHSO) board cancelled a discussion on the proposed co-payment scheme for the Universal Healthcare Coverage scheme (UC) at its meeting yesterday amid opposition from activists.
About 20 representatives from the People's Health System Movement (PHSM), Consumer Foundation, and People Living with HIV/AIDS groups showed up before the NHSO's scheduled board meeting yesterday to protest against the proposal.
The UC co-payment scheme was listed on the meeting's agenda.
The National Economics and Social Development Board (NESDB) proposed the co-payment scheme to reduce the rising state expenditure on the UC, or "30-baht", scheme.
Under the proposal, patients would be forced to contribute to payments for some healthcare services.
Community-based approach for effective healthcare provision
(The Nigerian Tribune) - Health, they say, is wealth and forindividuals, households, communities, state and country in order to enjoy thegoodness of life to the fullest. But due to the poverty level inNigeria today, health care services in both public and private hospitals havenot been free, as many people find it difficult to pay medical bills for commondiseases. As a result of this, many now fall back to alternative health carewhich they can access at cheaper rate not minding whether such health careproviders are not professionals nor skilled in health related matters.
Universal health coverage and HIV in resource-constrained countries: a critical juncture for research and action
International consensus has recently emerged about extending universal health coverage (UHC) in resource-constrained countries. However, the methods and resources that must be implemented to achieve this are far from being clearly defined; operational research must still be conducted to assess the mechanisms that are best adapted to resource-constrained countries. Although UNAIDS recommends the development of "HIV-sensitive" social protection, until now, very little research has been done in this area in connection with HIV. The scope and diversity of the currently available information on the HIV epidemic and medical and social treatment programs support using HIV infection as an ideal topic for operational research on the implementation of payment exemptions. By using HIV as a starting point, these studies contribute to research on "health financing and the organisation of health-care delivery," essential prerequisites for implementing UHC.