New approaches to measuring defi­cits in social health protection coverage in vulnerable countries

Overview

At  the  global  and  national  level,  policy  and  decision  makers  are  concerned  about  the  fact  that millions  of  people  cannot  obtain  health  care  when  in  need  or  are  pushed  into  poverty  due  to  gaps  in social  health  protection.  Hence,  achieving  universal  coverage  ranges  high  among  internationally  and nationally  agreed  objectives:  Health  and  social  security  are  fundamental  human  rights  and  key  for development  and  alleviating  poverty.  Therefore,  global  strategies1  and  national  policies  such  as  in Ghana  and  Thailand strive  for  developing  universal  social  health  protection  coverage.

This report is part of a series, The World Health Report 2010 Background Papers, which were written to inform the process of developing the key messages of the World Health Report 2010: Health systems financing: The path to universal coverage.