The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of September 2, 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.
The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of August 26, 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.
The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of August 19, 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.
Launch of the World Health Report 2013: Research for universal health coverage
Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the 2013 World Health Report on research for universal health coverage. The report calls on countries to invest in local research to develop universal health coverage system tailored to each individual situation.
Below is a speech given by Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, at the launch of the World Health Report 2013 in Beijing, China on August 15, 2013.
Questions and answers on Universal Health Coverage...and some more comments and open questions
This blog is cross-posted with permission from the Medicus Mundi International Network.
Like many other actors in global health, the Medicus Mundi International Network (MMI) is overwhelmed by the attention given to the concept of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the last two years, mainly by the World Health Organization and related to the debate on health in the post-2015 development agenda.
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.
The Week in Headlines
UHC Forward's Weekly Roundup of Headlines from Around the Globe
Week of July 29, 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
Kenya
NHIF asks States to help the poor get health cover: The national health insurer has asked the government to finance the poor to access medical services.
What can vouchers do for universal health coverage?
A surprising amount, actually. A voucher gives its recipient the right to access a specific health service (or health service package) at quality-assured health facilities for free. That same voucher enables the health provider to claim payment for the services they provided to the voucher-holding client. That’s why voucher programmes are often described as a demand-side subsidy with a supply-side effect.
This nifty ‘2-for-1’ characteristic means that vouchers can do a lot of good for all three key principles of universal health coverage: equity, financial protection, and quality of care. On the equity front, targeted enforcement of entitlements to free care ensure that even the most vulnerable can benefit from effective coverage. By largely eliminating out of pocket payments, vouchers also contribute to financial protection, while building the systems needed for social health insurance (SHI).
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.