Expanding Coverage Workshop
The Joint Learning Network (JLN) for Universal Health Coverage held its third workshop, “Expanding Coverage to the Informal Sector,” in Mombasa, Kenya on June 6-10, 2011. Over 120 country level policymakers and practitioners from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Vietnam participated in four days of discussions and problem-solving on issues related to providing health coverage to poor and informal sector populations.
Delegations participated in interactive multi-country sessions designed to highlight innovations from implementing countries, promote information sharing, and develop ongoing relationships among participants. Sessions were structured to maximize interaction among delegates.
Participants tackled thorny policy challenges such as how to raise revenues from non-poor informal sector workers, whether to develop separate coverage programs for informal sector and poor populations, and how to generate political will for reforms. Participants also exchanged ideas about how to improve operations. Topics included partnerships with community organizations for targeting and enrollment, new information communications technologies for premium payment and enrollment verification, and innovative models to ensure access to health services, such as health camps and partnerships with social franchise networks.
From a prepared statement Rockefeller Foundation (Africa) Managing Director, James Nyoro said about the workshop: “Strides towards universal health coverage and the resulting increases in access to care and financial protection remain critical if we are to achieve a socially equitable society. Bringing together technocrats, who practice within national health insurance programmes and those who implement policy at the highest levels is a critical step in creating lasting and context specific solutions for wider access to health services of our populations.”
The workshop generated positive dialogue amongst participants, funders and was covered by the local and international media. Read feature press stories in BBC World Service, the Daily Nation (Kenya), Business Ghana and CNBC Africa.
The JLN was established in 2010 with generous support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the UK Department for International Development as a partnership between six countries and several international organizations to respond to the challenges faced by countries implementing universal health coverage reforms. Since that time, the network has hosted three bi-lateral workshops and added formally added Kenya and Malaysia to its membership, with additional countries expected to formally join soon. The JLN Secretariat is coordinated by the Results for Development Institute (R4D) and several partners including ACCESS Health International, GIZ (Germany), the International Health Policy Program (IHPP) Thailand, and the World Bank.