The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of August 5, 2013 - 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 universal health coverage (UHC).
Below is a list of UHC-related headlines from around the world.
Nigeria on the move towards universal health coverage
Kunle’s story touched me deeply. I walked into a pediatric unit of a teaching hospital in Nigeria a few years ago to review a patient. On the first bed was a lifeless child. He was brought in dead, a few minutes earlier by his parents. His mother, Bisi, wept uncontrollably. While in tears, she recounted how difficult it was for them to borrow money to get to the hospital. Although, they got some money from a chief in the community, the two-year old baby died before they got to the hospital.
Kunle’s case typifies the plight of many poor people in the country and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. The financial burden of illness makes many families poorer. People are afraid to go to hospitals because they may not be able to afford the cost of the health services they need. They prefer to buy drugs over the counter or visit a local herbalist who will charge little or nothing to provide poor health service.
I believe Kunle had a right to be alive today but he is not.
The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of July 15, 2013 - 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 universal health coverage (UHC).
Below is a list of UHC-related headlines from around the world. If you are viewing this on the web and would prefer to receive The Week in Headlines in your inbox every week, subscribe to the email edition.
COUNTRY HEADLINES
India
Roadblocks to universal health coverage: India is the world’s largest generic medicines exporter and has the third largest national economy in the world, according to data from the World Bank. But its healthcare policies are failing its poorest citizens.
The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of July 8, 2013 - 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 universal health coverage (UHC).
Below is a list of UHC-related headlines from around the world.
Promoting universal financial protection in Nigeria
Chima Onoka is one of the authors of Promoting universal financial protection: constraints and enabling factors in scaling-up coverage with social health insurance in Nigeria
Nigeria is on the brink of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC)... That is probably everyone’s wish. The reality though is that many hurdles separate Nigeria from that dream. Achieving UHC in Nigeria implies having financial risk protection for 150 million people, a step that for certain, will change African and global indices. Eight years after setting up a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), 4% of Nigerians are covered by the scheme, largely through the Formal Sector Social Health Insurance Programme (FSSHIP) that currently, covers employees of the federal government and their families. The NHIS, an agency of the federal government, has established a plethora of social health insurance schemes (SHIPs) to ferry various population groups to the dreamland: Formal Sector SHIP (FSSHIP), Voluntary contributors SHIP (VCSHIP), Tertiary Institutions SHIP (TSSHIP), Community Based SHIP (CBSHIP), Rural Dwellers SHIP (RDSHIP), among others.
Working with Nigerian Policymakers to Share Lessons on National Health Insurance
Health Systems 20/20 features Health economist Dr. Hong Wang and the Joint Learning Network's workshop "Expanding Coverage to the Informal Sector" held in Mombasa, Kenya in June 2011.
Health economist Dr. Hong Wang did not come to the “Expanding Coverage to the Informal Sector” workshop to share a chapter from his book—he came to empower others. National policymakers from 13 developing countries took center stage at the four-day workshop hosted by the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage (JLN), sharing accomplishments and challenges to providing health coverage to poor and informal sector populations.
During the event in Mombasa, Kenya this June, Health Systems 20/20’s Dr.
Public-Private Engagement for Better Health in Africa
New World Bank Group Report Assesses the Good, the Bad, and the Innovative
Connor Spreng, an economist at the World Bank, moderated a session on the IFC flagship report "Healthy Partnerships: How Governments Can Engage the Private Sector to Improve Health in Africa" at the JLN Mombasa Workshop.