Protecting the poor against health impoverishment in Pakistan: proof of concept of the potential within innovative web and mobile phone technologies

Overview

Fairness in financing and financial risk protection is one  of  the three  health  system goals.  Most health systems  in developing countries do not perform  well with respect to these yardsticks. Many have mixed health  systems, where the predominant means of financing healthcare costs are borne out-of-pocket.The latter are a barrier to healthcare and can exacerbate inequity. In these settings catastrophic healthcare costs can push people into poverty and exacerbate poverty. More than a 100 million people become impoverished and a further 150 million face severe  financial hardship as a result of health care payments, globally.Seventy eight million people were  reported to  fall below the $1.08 poverty line as a result of health payments in 11 countries of Asia alone.

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.