Regional Meeting on “Sustainable health financing strategies to improve access to health care”, 23-25 July 2008, Bangkok

Public health expenditure is still low in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. As a consequence, out-of-pocket expenditures cover a high percentage of overall health expenditures. With no or still-developing private health insurance sectors in many countries, out-of-pocket expenditures remain one of the leading causes of poverty.

Some countries are experimenting with various pre-payment and risk-pooling schemes, such as social health insurance, community based insurance and health equity funds. Still, there remain many challenges, including whether and how to increase government funding for such schemes, how to increase coverage, especially of those in the informal sector and rural areas, and how to increase the efficiency of fund management.

Ministries of Health cannot tackle most of these challenges on their own. The solution requires multi-sectoral collaboration and coordination with other Ministries, such as those of Economics, Finance, Planning, Social Welfare, Labour, and Gender as well as development agencies and non-governmental organizations.

The Meeting is organized as a regional activity for two sustainable health financing projects, inviting six pilot countries as well as other ESCAP member states, other UN agencies and donor agencies. It aims to provide a forum to exchange national experiences, not only by Ministries of Health, but also by other Ministries, as well UN and donor agencies, on health financing in particular, following issues/questions;

• In the long term, how to increase the public spending on health?
• In the short terms, how to mitigate the current low stage of public health financing?
  • What pre-payment schemes have countries found most effective?
  • How to expand the coverage of those pre-payment schemes, especially those in informal sectors and rural areas?
• What is the role of international organizations and donor agencies?
  

Date: 23-25 July 2008

Venue: United Nations Conference Centre, Room H, Bangkok, Thailand

Documents

Provisional Agenda

Tentative Programme

Provisional list of participants

Tentative issues for the group discussions

Background documents

Concept note for the meeting

Dr. Peter Leslie Annear, “Developing a strategy for social health protection in Cambodia”

Dr. Ying Xiaohua, “Essential Health-care Provision in China”

Mr. Jean-Marc Thomé, “Review of Ongoing Health Financing Reform in Lao PDR and Challenges in Expanding the Current Social Protection Schemes.”

For the link to national meetings on health financing, please go to Meetings/Workshops

For further information on the meeting, please contact escap-healthdev@un.org.