Shamima Akhter (ThinkWell Bangladesh), Anooj Pattnaik (ThinkWell), Callum Pierce (ThinkWell), Afroja Yesmin (ThinkWell Bangladesh), Pak Trihono (ThinkWell Indonesia) In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Helal, the manager of a busy health facility in...
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...
ADB’s report, the Republic of Korea’s Coronavirus Disease Pandemic Response and Health System Preparedness, comprehensively covers several aspects that were crucial to the success of the ROK, such as effective resource mobilization, coordination, and timely social...
The "All About Korea's Response to COVID-19" booklet provides an interim overview of Korea's COVID-19 response efforts up to September 2020 in various areas including: - Epidemic response system - Testing, tracing, and treatment - Entry screening measures - Social...
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...
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 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...
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...
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.
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...
In Thailand, the National Health Security Board has approved new benefits packages under the Universal Coverage Scheme that consist of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, test kits, and medical supplies. The new benefits packages enable the National...
The Kingdom of Eswatini’s response to COVID-19 got a boost following the approval of US$5 million loan in additional financing on the 16th of April, 2021. The added funds were expected to assist the Government of Eswatini accelerate its ongoing efforts to purchase and...
Japan's cabinet has approved 1.4 trillion yen ($13 billion) in fiscal 2021 reserve funds. This budget is mainly allocated to purchasing COVID-19 vaccines and securing medicines for patients. Of the total budget, the government allocated about 841.5 billion yen...
West Australia plans to allocate $1.9 billion to improve the capacity of the public health system, especially staffing in the upcoming 2021-22 budget. Approximately $1 billion will be directed to health and hospital services. Almost $500 million will be allocated to...
Laos has spent over LAK 15.82 billion on aiding the Lao workers who returned from Thailand since March 2020. The government assistance consists of food, transportation, state quarantine centers, and other necessities. The Lao government has cooperated with the...
