Health sector financing
Health systems financing and the path to universal coverage
Health systems often too weak to support rapid scale-up of service coverage
Authors:
D.B. Evans; C. Etienne
Publisher:
World Health Organization , 2011
Donor commitments to health have increased more than fourfold since the Millennium Declaration was signed in September 2000. However, the simple act of raising more international funds cannot, by itself, achieve the goals if the health system is too weak to support the rapid scale-up of service coverage.
The current paper states that many countries are very close to universal coverage and others are making good progress.
Yet, it highlights the following conclusions:
- domestic health financing systems must be robust enough to attain and sustain increased coverage.
- Financing for universal coverage is based on two interlinked foundations: to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent people from using the services they need – prevention, promotion, treatment and rehabilitation. Also, to ensure that they do not suffer financial hardship because they have to pay for these services.
- improving universal coverage requires systems that raise the bulk of funds through forms of prepayment, and then pool these funds to spread the financial risk of illness across the population.
- it also requires health financing systems with inbuilt incentives to ensure that these funds are used efficiently and equitably.
The document points that the WHO’s next world health report will be on health financing and will argue that almost every country can improve service coverage or financial risk protection. The report will emphasise that this can be materialised by addressing one or more of the core tasks of a financing system.
