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Universal Financial Coverage

The Alliance led a programme of work, in 2008, aiming to identify high priority health systems research questions in three thematic areas including health systems financing. Research priority questions were identified through interviews with key informants across 24 countries and through overview of systematic reviews. The following question: how do we develop and implement universal financial protection? was identified as one of the nineteen priority health systems financing research questions and was ranked first at the Nyon workshop in May 2008 involving twelve researchers. For more information, read:

• Ranson MK et al. Establishing health systems financing research priorities in developing countries using a participatory methodology.

In 2009, the Alliance and the Health Systems Financing Department issued a joint call to support investigators based in low- and middle-income countries to conduct in-depth country case-studies on universal financial risk protection. Seven country case-studies have been supported; Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Thailand. The studies will help to identify factors that have facilitated or hindered the expansion of universal financial risk protection in these low- and middle-income countries.
The case-study findings are due to be published as a thematic series in Health Research Policy and Systems. Each country team is producing a policy brief providing key findings of the case-study results. Policy briefs are available under the countries project profiles below.

This research programme builds on the interest and momentum generated by the World Health Report 2010 which theme was on Health Systems Financing: The path to universal coverage.

• Costa Rica - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• Georgia - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• India - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• Malawi - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• Nigeria - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• Tanzania - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries
• Thailand - Assessing efforts towards universal financial risk protection in low- and middle-income countries