Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Teri Reynolds, Thomas Wilkinson, Melanie Y. Bertram, Matthew Jowett, Rob Baltussen, Awad Mataria, Ferozuddin Feroz, Mohamed Jama
Summary: As no country or health system can provide all possible health services, prioritizing a subset of services for universal availability is integral to universal health coverage. However, creating a package of priority services alone is not enough; implementation is crucial for their impact. There are tensions between criteria-driven prioritization and implementation-oriented formulations, and service delivery considerations are often overlooked. Bridging the gap from a package of services to actual delivery presents challenges for countries. Failure to incorporate delivery considerations during prioritization and design stages can undermine the goals of service delivery. Drawing from country experiences, we discuss choices in package structure and content, and propose ideas to build more implementable service packages to effectively bridge the gap between intent and implementation.
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sandhya Venkateswaran, Shruti Slaria, Sampriti Mukherjee
Summary: There is vast variation in public investments, health outcomes, and progress toward universal health coverage across countries. Economic status and knowledge on solutions do not determine health improvements. The extent of political prioritization of healthcare plays a crucial role in achieving universal health coverage. Political motivation is driven by a regime's need for legitimacy, political ideology, or external factors. Greater citizen participation can shift the source of legitimacy for leaders.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Stuart Keel, Andreas Mueller, Sandra Block, Rupert Bourne, Matthew J. Burton, Somnath Chatterji, Mingguang He, Van C. Lansingh, Wanjiku Mathenge, Silvio Mariotti, Debbie Muirhead, M. Mansur Rabiu, Thulasiraj D. Ravilla, Serge Resnikoff, Juan Carlos Silva, Ian Tapply, Theo Vos, Ningli Wang, Alarcos Cieza
Summary: The eye care sector plays an important role in advancing universal health coverage, with global targets for eCSC and eREC by 2030 endorsed by WHO, which convened expert consultations to recommend standardizing definitions and measurement methods for these indicators.
LANCET GLOBAL HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stephane Verguet, Alemayehu Hailu, Getachew Teshome Eregata, Solomon Tessema Memirie, Kjell Arne Johansson, Ole Frithjof Norheim
Summary: All countries worldwide have signed up to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and committed to the objective of achieving universal health coverage. Getting there will require understanding how packages of essential health services can be developed in resource-constrained settings and how experts and the public can make decisions about which health services should be provided free of charge.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Yaoguang Zhang, Di Dong, Ling Xu, Zhiwen Miao, Wenhui Mao, Frank Sloan, Shenglan Tang
Summary: China has achieved significant progress in advancing universal health coverage through the introduction of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) in 2003. The study assessed the impact of changing NCMS policies on service utilization, financial burden, and equity for NCMS enrollees between 2003 and 2013. The findings showed increased service utilization, reduced financial risk, and identified priority targets for future reforms to improve equity and financial protection for the rural population.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Chris Atim, Indu Bhushan, Mark Blecher, Ramana Gandham, Vikram Rajan, Jonatan Daven, Olusoji Adeyi
Summary: This paper summarizes health financing themes from five middle-income countries with incomplete progress towards Universal Health Coverage, highlighting challenges such as inadequate financing, sub-optimal pooling, and unmet expectations in strategic purchasing. Despite variations, evidence of strong political commitment in some countries bodes well for further progress.
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Amalia Hasnida, Maarten Olivier Kok, Elizabeth Pisani
Summary: This study investigated the political and economic factors that drive production and trade of poor-quality medicines in Indonesia. The expansion of universal health coverage has reduced revenues for physicians and pharmaceutical manufacturers, leading to market factors, such as shortages and physician-promoted irrational demand, which can drive markets for substandard and falsified medicines. Policy-makers must consider the potential impact on medicine quality when formulating rules governing health financing, procurement, taxation and industry to protect progress towards UHC.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Chukwudi A. Nnaji, Charles S. Wiysonge, Joseph Okeibunor, Thobile Malinga, Abdu A. Adamu, Prosper Tumusiime, Humphrey Karamagi
Summary: Implementation research has been increasingly promoted in Africa to assess or evaluate interventions related to universal health coverage (UHC). This review aims to identify and characterize the nature, facilitators, and barriers of using implementation research in the context of UHC in Africa.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Rafael da Silva Barbosa, Eduardo Fagnani
Summary: This article analyzes the development of public and private provision of healthcare services in Brazil with a focus on the public network. The period from 2008 to 2015 saw positive changes in public investment and human resources, with significant increases in primary healthcare services provided by the public system. However, there was a notable decrease in the number of private establishments, indicating areas for improvement.
Article
Ophthalmology
Ian McCormick, Islay Mactaggart, Serge Resnikoff, Debbie Muirhead, G. Murthy, Juan Carlos Silva, Andrew Bastawrous, Jude Stern, Karl Blanchet, Ningli Wang, Mayinuer Yusufu, Andrew Cooper, Michael Gichangi, Matthew J. Burton, Jacqueline Ramke
Summary: This project aimed to develop a menu of eye health indicators for countries to monitor eye health within universal health coverage. By reviewing the literature and conducting two rounds of prioritization exercises with global eye health experts, a final menu of 22 indicators, including 7 core indicators, was established, ensuring they are feasible, actionable, reliable, and internationally comparable for the monitoring of eye health in 2020 and beyond.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Joel Arthur Kiendrebeogo, Andrea Thoumi, Keith Mangam, Cheickna Toure, Seyni Mbaye, Patricia Odero, Edward Owino, Claire Jones, Grace Ssali Kiwanuka, Zilper Audi, Danielle Bloom, Amelia Kinter, Allison Gamble Kelley
Summary: This article discusses how low-income and middle-income countries can gain more control over their development assistance programming to achieve universal health coverage. It presents new ways for development partners to support UHC processes in countries, focusing on changing long-standing paradigms and implementing five action steps to facilitate progress towards UHC.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Sjan-Mari van Niekerk, Sureshkumar Kamalakannan, Gakeemah Inglis-Jassiem, Maria Yvonne Charumbira, Silke Fernandes, Jayne Webster, Rene English, Quinette A. Louw, Tracey Smythe
Summary: This study explores the opportunities and challenges within the health system to achieve universal health coverage for people with stroke in South Africa. It highlights certain areas that show promising trends to improve service delivery, such as comprehensiveness, quality, and perceptions of care.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anuska Kalita, Bijetri Bose, Liana Woskie, Annie Haakenstad, Jan E. Cooper, Winnie Yip
Summary: This study is the first large-scale research on private pharmacies in India and compares them with other healthcare providers. The study also explores the reasons why patients choose private pharmacies and evaluates the quality and cost of care provided by these pharmacies. The findings suggest that incorporating private pharmacies into a comprehensive health systems approach is important for achieving universal health coverage in India.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Xing Lin Feng, Yaoguang Zhang, Xuhuai Hu, Carine Ronsmans
Summary: China has made commendable progress in protecting the poorest for basic care. However, the 'leaving no one behind' agenda needs a strategy targeting the entire population rather than only the poorest. Blunt investing in primary healthcare facilities seems neither effective nor efficient.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Steven van de Vijver, Paulien Tensen, Gershim Asiki, Ana Requena-Mendez, Michiel Heidenrijk, Karien Stronks, Frank Cobelens, Jettie Bont, Charles Agyemang
Summary: Digital transformation in healthcare offers opportunities to improve access and quality of care, but not all individuals and communities benefit equally. Vulnerable groups often do not participate in digital health programs despite their greater need for care. Fortunately, initiatives around the world are working towards making digital health accessible to all citizens, but lack coordination and connection to maximize positive impact. To achieve universal health coverage through digital health, there is a need for global and local knowledge exchange, initiative linkage, and application of academic knowledge in practice. This will ensure that digital innovations increase access to care for everyone, leading towards digital health for all.