Countries are seeking to diversify sources of revenue for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and strategies vary among countries at different stages on the road to UHC. The study tends to document these trade-offs by factoring successful economies across the globe. A review of peer-reviewed literature retrieved country-wise on the basis of successful UHC economies to establish the major factor associated with development of UHC. Political will has been recognized as one of the critical factors. Overcoming barriers associated with development of an adequate and sustainable financing mechanism and selecting the right package of services are other essential determinants. Reaching vulnerable groups and efficient use of resources were other factors that contributed to UHC development in Mexico and south-east Asian countries. UHC development is at threshold where nations should learn from one another, especially from those systems which appear to be doing better, and are more prepared to innovate, test and evaluate new approaches.
References
[1]
WHO (2012) What Is Universal Health Coverage.
http://www.who.int/features/qa/universal_health_coverage/en/
[2]
Maeda, A., et al. (2014) Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of 11 Country Case Studies. World Bank Publications.
https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0297-3
[3]
Gwatkin, D.R. and Ergo, A. (2011) Universal Health Coverage: Friend or Foe of Health Equity? The Lancet, 377, 2160-2161.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62058-2
[4]
WHO (2009) UNAIDS, and UNICEF, towards Universal Access: Scaling up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector.
[5]
UN (2011) United Nations: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011. UN.
[6]
Garrett, L., Chowdhury, A.M.R. and Pablos-Méndez, A. (2009) All for Universal Health Coverage. The Lancet, 374, 1294-1299.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61503-8
[7]
White, F. (2015) Primary Health Care and Public Health: Foundations of Universal Health Systems. Medical Principles and Practice, 24, 103-116.
https://doi.org/10.1159/000370197
[8]
Sengupta, A. (2013) Universal Health Coverage: Beyond Rhetoric. Municipal Services Project, Occasional Paper No. 2013.
[9]
WHO (2010) The World Health Report [2010]: Health Systems Financing; the Path to Universal Coverage. W.H. Organization.
[10]
Witter, S., et al. (2017) Minding the Gaps: Health Financing, Universal Health Coverage and Gender. Health Policy and Planning, 32, v4-v12.
https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czx063
[11]
McKee, M., et al. (2013) Universal Health Coverage: A Quest for All Countries but under Threat in Some. Value in Health, 16, S39-S45.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2012.10.001
[12]
Shan, L., et al. (2017) Perceived Challenges to Achieving Universal Health Coverage: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Social Health Insurance Managers/Administrators in China. BMJ Open, 7, e014425. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014425
[13]
Lagomarsino, G., et al. (2012) Moving towards Universal Health Coverage: Health Insurance Reforms in Nine Developing Countries in Africa and Asia. The Lancet, 380, 933-943. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61147-7
[14]
Boerma, T., et al. (2014) Monitoring Progress towards Universal Health Coverage at Country and Global Levels. PLoS Medicine, 11, e1001731.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001731
[15]
Adams, A.M., et al. (2014) Innovation for Universal Health Coverage in Bangladesh: A Call to Action. The Lancet, 382, 2104-2111.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62150-9
[16]
Hosseinpoor, A.R., et al. (2011) Towards Universal Health Coverage: The Role of Within-Country Wealth-Related Inequality in 28 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89, 881-889.
https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.087536
[17]
Somanathan, A., Dao, H.L. and Tien, T.V. (2013) Integrating the Poor into Universal Health Coverage in Vietnam.
[18]
Littlejohns, P., et al. (2012) Universal Health Coverage and Litigation in Latin America. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 26, 390-406.
https://doi.org/10.1108/14777261211239034
[19]
Carrin, G., et al. (2008) Universal Coverage of Health Services: Tailoring Its Implementation. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 86, 857-863.
https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.07.049387
[20]
Etienne, C., Asamoa-Baah, A. and Evans, D.B. (2010) Health Systems Financing: The Path to Universal Coverage. World Health Organization.
[21]
Mills, A. (2007) Strategies to Achieve Universal Coverage: Are There Lessons from Middle Income Countries? A Literature Review Commissioned by the Health Systems Knowledge Network. University of the Witwatersrand Centre for Health Policy.
[22]
Savedoff, W.D., et al. (2012) Political and Economic Aspects of the Transition to Universal Health Coverage. The Lancet, 380, 924-932.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61083-6
[23]
Light, D.W. (2003) Universal Health Care: Lessons from the British Experience. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 25-30. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.1.25
[24]
Teixeira, S.M.F., Belmartino, S. and Baris, E. (2000) Reshaping Health Care in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Health Care Reform in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
[25]
Chiang, T.-L. (1997) Taiwan’s 1995 Health Care Reform. Health Policy, 39, 225-239.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-8510(96)00877-9
[26]
Liu, G.G., et al. (2009) The Role of For-Profit Hospitals in Medical Expenditures: Evidence from Aggregate Data in China. China Economic Review, 20, 625-633.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2009.06.002
[27]
Ikegami, N., et al. (2011) Japanese Universal Health Coverage: Evolution, Achievements, and Challenges. The Lancet, 378, 1106-1115.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60828-3
[28]
Minh, H.V., et al. (2014) Progress toward Universal Health Coverage in ASEAN.
[29]
Getzen, T.E. (2000) Health Care Is an Individual Necessity and a National Luxury: Applying Multilevel Decision Models to the Analysis of Health Care Expenditures. Journal of Health Economics, 19, 259-270.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-6296(99)00032-6
[30]
Treerutkuarkul, A. (2010) Thailand: Health Care for All, at a Price. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88, 84. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.10.010210
[31]
Glassman, A. and Chalkidou, K. (2012) Priority-Setting in Health: Building Institutions for Smarter Public Spending. Center for Global Development, Washington DC.
[32]
Rodney, A.M. and Hill, P.S. (2014) Achieving Equity within Universal Health Coverage: A Narrative Review of Progress and Resources for Measuring Success. International Journal for Equity in Health, 13, 72.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0072-8
[33]
World Health Organization (2000) The World Health Report 2000: Health Systems Improving Performance.
[34]
Yanes, P. (2011) Mexico’s Targeted and Conditional Transfers: Between Oportunidades and Rights. Economic & Political Weekly, 46, 49-54.
[35]
OECD (2011) OECD Indicators, Health at a Glance 2011. OECD Indicators.
https://doi.org/10.1787/888932525590
[36]
Vega, J. (2013) Universal Health Coverage: The Post-2015 Development Agenda. The Lancet, 381, 179-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60062-8
[37]
Christianson, J.B., Leatherman, S.T. and Sutherland, K. (2007) Financial Incentives, Healthcare Providers and Quality Improvements: A Review of the Evidence. The Health Foundation.
[38]
Saltman, R.B., Figueras, J. and Sakellarides, C. (1998) Critical Challenges for Health Care Reform in Europe. McGraw-Hill International, New York.
[39]
Victora, C.G., et al. (2004) Achieving Universal Coverage with Health Interventions. The Lancet, 364, 1541-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17279-6
[40]
Lu, J.-F.R. and Hsiao, W.C. (2003) Does Universal Health Insurance Make Health Care Unaffordable? Lessons from Taiwan. Health Affairs, 22, 77-88.
https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.22.3.77
[41]
Hu, S., et al. (2008) Reform of How Health Care Is Paid for in China: Challenges and Opportunities. The Lancet, 372, 1846-1853.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61368-9
[42]
Campbell, J., et al. (2013) Human Resources for Health and Universal Health Coverage: Fostering Equity and Effective Coverage. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 91, 853-863. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.13.118729
[43]
Jimba, M., et al. (2010) Health Workforce: The Critical Pathway to Universal Health Coverage. Background Paper for the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research.
[44]
Moreno-Serra, R. and Smith, P.C. (2012) Does Progress towards Universal Health Coverage Improve Population Health? The Lancet, 380, 917-923.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61039-3
[45]
Marten, R., et al. (2014) An Assessment of Progress towards Universal Health Coverage in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). The Lancet, 384, 2164-2171. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60075-1
[46]
Tangcharoensathien, V., Mills, A. and Palu, T. (2015) Accelerating Health Equity: The Key Role of Universal Health Coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals. BMC Medicine, 13, 101. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0342-3
[47]
Beattie, A., Yates, R. and Noble, D.J. (2016) Accelerating Progress towards Universal Health Coverage in Asia and Pacific: Improving the Future for Women and Children. BMJ Global Health, 1, i12-i18.
[48]
Lauer, J.A., Rajan, D. and Bertram, M.Y. (2017) Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage: We Need to Focus both on Substance and on Process. Comment on “Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage: We Need Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes, not Just More Evidence on Cost-Effectiveness”. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 6, 601-603.
https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2017.06