Country assessment guide: the Health Financing Progress Matrix

Overview

This document provides detailed advice in support of implementation of version 2.0 of the Health Financing Progress Matrix (HFPM) released in December 2020. The HFPM is WHO’s standardized qualitative approach to assessing country health financing systems, and comprises two stages. Stage 1 provides a descriptive landscape of the different coverage schemes and programmes in the health system, including how the health budget is organized. Stage 2 comprises thirty-three questions which look in detail at the way health financing institutions and policies are organized, and how they are implemented. For each question, the guide discusses why it is important to ask, and what progress looks on the issue looks like. Specific criteria are identified to support the assessment process; these criteria also signal the type of policy directions and implementation strategies which support progress. Ideas are also provided on information sources and quantitative indicators which can support the assessment.