South Sudan secures US$ 174.2 million to address the COVID-19 pandemic
On 30th March, 2021, South Sudan received US$ 174.2 million to help finance the country’s urgent balance of payments needs and provide critical fiscal space to maintain poverty-reducing and growth-enhancing spending. A sharp decline in international oil prices...
South Sudan implements a road map to introduce and institutionalize national health accounts (NHA)
In South Sudan, the Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from other international partners in 2017, commenced the implementation of a road map to introduce and institutionalize the NHA. The NHA is a framework for consistent tracking of resource flows within the...
South Sudan-Strengthening primary health care (PHC) in fragile settings
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, and in recent years the government has been working to transition from a focus on humanitarian relief to longer-term development of the health sector, as reflected in the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) 2017–2022. The HSSP...
P4H members ILO and WHO met to discuss social health protection in Ethiopia
In August, representatives from WHO and ILO met to discuss their work to support Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and strengthen social health protection in Ethiopia. The ILO team gave an overview of the PROSPECTS project, a new Partnership on Inclusive Jobs and...
Timor-Leste to compensate Covid vaccine-hit patients
Timor-Leste plans to provide compensation to people who receive adverse reactions or fatalities from Covid-19 vaccine, aiming to encourage the population to get the vaccination due to a rise of new cases and deaths. A patient who experiences a rare case of disability...
Japan plans for fiscal year 2022 total 111 trillion yen to control COVID-19
Due to a rise of social security expenditures, budget requests from government ministries and agencies reach 111 trillion yen ($1 trillion) in total for fiscal 2022. Social security costs accounted for one-third of government expenditures. The health ministry...
Nepal budget 2021/22 revised: 6 highlights you should know
Nepal amends annual budget plan 2021/22. Following the revisions, an additional Rs 5 billion has been allocated for Covid-19 vaccine purchasing. For social security provisions, there have been added two new allowances: Rs 3,000 per month for families...
Botswana pays equivalent of $15 a dose for Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine
As most African countries struggle to procure enough vaccines in the global scramble for vaccines, Botswana’s health minister Edwin Dikoloti (30th of July, 2021) said that the government was paying the equivalent of $15 a dose for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by...
The P4H Coordination Desk is looking for a P4H CFP support and Covid-19 & Health Financing Consultant
The consultant will participate in two set of workstreams of the P4H network workplan that are a/ the deployment and continuation of the P4H Country Focal Persons (CFP) and b/ the one on “Health Financing and pandemic preparedness and response”. His / her functions...
Botswana takes bold steps to address health and wellbeing of the older population
The government of Botswana began developing the national healthy ageing strategic programme in 2019. The strategy’s goal is to ensure comprehensive public-health response to meet the needs of older population in line with universal health coverage (UHC). Given that...
Covid-19 Mustn’t Derail Ethiopia’s Quest for Universal Health Coverage, WHO says
President Sahlework Zewde met with UN’s Assistant Secretary-General and WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, in Addis Ababa where they discussed the status of Universal Health (UHC) coverage in Ethiopia. Read more here.
Health financing progress matrix (HFPM) validation workshop
The Ministry of Health with the support of WHO and other partners is conducting a Health Financing Progress Matrix validation workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to validate and update the preliminary results from an assessment of Ethiopia's health...
Lessons & Way Forward from the First Webinar on Health Financing in India
The Webinar Series on health financing in India kicked off on 18 August 2021 to discuss the burning health financing and social health protection issues in the country and debate potential ways forward. The four-webinar series is organised by P4H in collaboration with...
Policy versus the ground reality of Kenya’s free maternity program
Nirmala Ravishankar (ThinkWell), Boniface Mbuthia (ThinkWell Kenya), Stacey Orangi (KEMRI Wellcome Trust), and Edwine Barasa (KEMRI Wellcome Trust) Covid-19 threatens to reverse the progress countries have achieved in improving maternal and child survival, even as it...
PhilHealth now covers home isolation of mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) announced a health benefits package to cover home isolation of mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 Home Isolation Benefit Package (CHIBP) can help free up hospital beds for COVID-19 patients...