Health Financing Progress Matrix assessment: Mauritius 2023

Overview

This report summarizes the findings of the Health Financing Progress Matrix assessment in Mauritius, WHO’s standardized assessment of a country’s health financing policies. The Government of Mauritius requested the assessment to contribute to ongoing review of the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP), as well as to feed into the development of a new health financing strategy. The assessment was conducted in a highly participatory manner, with the additional objective of building local health financing capacity; it was also subject to external review.

In addition to identifying strengths and weaknesses in Mauritius’s health financing system, priority areas are highlighted in order to further drive progress towards UHC; in recent years, service coverage has plateaued and the number of households suffering catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket spending has crept up. Attention needs to focus on pooling revenues and strategic purchasing of health services to ensure equity in resource distribution and access to needed services, as well as addressing problems arising from multiple fragmented pools. The latest data on key health expenditure and other selected indicators are presented. Detailed responses to individual questions are available on the WHO HFPM database of country assessments or upon request.