Monitoring health and social protection coverage in the context of TB care and prevention
New paper published in PLOS Medicine collection on monitoring universal health coverage
A new PLOS Medicine collection, Monitoring Universal Health Coverage, was launched on 22 September at the Rockefeller Foundation as a side event of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The papers in this collection offer insight into current international thinking about the essential Universal Health Coverage (UHC) components—coverage, financial protection, and equity—and how these might be monitored and evaluated in practice. The 13 country case studies discuss progress towards the monitoring and evaluation of UHC in the featured countries and are authored by national experts.
UHC is an important component of the recently endorsed post-2015 global TB strategy and TB-sensitive UHC is critical to achieving the ambitious targets stated in the strategy. On this backdrop, the Global TB Programme contributed one of the technical papers: “Beyond UHC: Monitoring Health and Social Protection Coverage in the Context of TB Care and Prevention”. This paper discusses UHC monitoring in relation to the new Global TB Strategy. The paper also highlights the need for coverage beyond the scope of UHC based on recent work on the financial burden for TB-affected households. The UHC debate usually focuses on coverage of health care services and financial risk protection against direct medical costs paid out of pocket. The paper argues that social protection interventions aimed to reduce or mitigate indirect costs of care also must be implemented and monitored.
Access the WHO factsheet on UHC and Social Protection
Source: WHO Global TB Programme NewsFlash
