Resources

This report, developed during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, provides a comprehensive, updated overview of health expenditure and health financing systems in Member States of the WHO SEA Region between 2008–2018. It also reviews the health financing policy responses adopted by countries in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, and suggests priority actions to help them navigate out of this crisis, while maintaining focus on universal health coverage. Government officials and development partners will be able to use the information and analysis presented in this report in planning, decision-making, as well as monitoring and evaluation processes. Others, such as researchers and those in the non-government sector, can use this report to enrich their analyses and bolster their advocacy efforts. This report helps establish a benchmark on how SEA Region countries were placed before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis and their initial responses to the pandemic. Future analyses will help assess how countries may have used the opportunities created by the pandemic to reform health financing in the Region. It is a useful resource for policy makers. Click here to read the report.