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Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015

Only nine countries in Africa provide free public health care, but others have begun looking at ways to help the most vulnerable planning stages of linking beneficiaries of older persons’ cash transfers to the National Health Insurance Fund. However, these measures are limited in scope, lacking in comprehensiveness and long-term projection. The need for UHC in Africa Universal health coverage (UHC) is a broad concept that encompasses some form of government action aimed at extending access to health care as widely as possible and setting minimum standards. The definition set out by the WHO4 on UHC integrates these themes: Universal coverage is defined as access to key promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health interventions for all at an affordable cost, thereby achieving equity in access. The principle of financial-risk protection ensures that the cost of care does not put people at risk of financial catastrophe. A related objective of health-financing policy is equity in financing: households contribute to the health system on the basis of ability to pay. Universal coverage is consistent with WHO’s concepts of health for all and primary health care. A legal framework is important for legislating and regulating the care that should be extended, to whom and on what basis. Most of the costs of care usually come from a combination of compulsory insurance and tax revenues, although in certain cases some of the costs are borne by the patient at the time of accessing health service. T h e r o l e o f s o c i a l p r o t e c t i o n i n Af r i c a Social health insurance pools the health risks of its members and contributions of households, enterprises and government to provide a specific benefit package of care to the insured (Karamagi, 2015). In essence, UHC operates on a social solidarity principle: contributions according to income and benefits according to need. It is notable that healthier ageing cohorts and risk pooling under UHC may provide a path for sustainable health service financing and delivery. UHC embodies three important health objectives: equity in access to health care; quality health care service; and broader social health protection. The World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 58.33, in recognition of the limited spread of social health insurance, urges member states to take specific steps towards ensuring equitable access to health care for all people. These steps include: (i) Ensuring that health-financing systems include a method for prepayment of financial contributions for health care, with a view to sharing risk among the population and avoiding catastrophic health care expenditure and impoverishment of individuals as a result of seeking care (ii) Planning the transition to universal coverage of their citizens so as to contribute to meeting the needs of the population for health care and improving its quality; reducing poverty; attaining internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration; and to achieving health for all Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 105 Sunday Alamba / Commonwealth Secretariat


Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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