scholarly journals COVID-19 financing strategies for refugees and migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1229-1238
Author(s):  
Elena Habersky ◽  
Aya Damir
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Health Financing ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Care Systems

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences on health care systems worldwide. While the world was slowly moving towards achieving health for all, the pandemic destroyed progress made over the past 25 years and exposed the vulnerability of health care systems and health insurance schemes as well as their lack of resilience. Heath care systems failed to respond in a timely and efficient manner, lives have been, and continue to be, lost and vulnerable populations, especially refugees and migrants, are more at risk than ever as many are left out of country vaccination programmes. Aims: The Eastern Mediterranean region hosts 13 million internally displaced persons and 12 million refugees as of 2018. Thus, adopting inclusive health financing mechanisms is crucial to addressing the crisis and protecting indigenous and displaced populations. Methods: By looking at regional best practices and the response of the United Nations, we outline possible financing tools for including refugees and migrants in health insurance schemes for COVID 19 and introduce novel solutions for addressing gaps in funding. Results: Among the suggested solutions are the inclusion of refugees and migrants in national health care systems, setting up community-based health insurance for migrant and refugee populations, as well as introducing a catastrophe bond financing scheme. Conclusions: While COVID-19 is far from over, many countries in the EMR have included migrants in their COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans. While this is not the first instance of inclusion in some countries, many others are unable or do not prioritize migrants in their health systems, to the detriment of the entire country. This paper, therefore, tackles the possible health financing measures which curb or prevent migrants from accessing such systems and presents possible solutions to change the status quo.

scholarly journals COVID-19 financing strategies for refugees and migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Habersky ◽  
Aya Damir
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Health Financing ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Care Systems

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences on health care systems worldwide. While the world was slowly moving towards achieving health for all, the pandemic destroyed progress made over the past 25 years and exposed the vulnerability of health care systems and health insurance schemes as well as their lack of resilience. Heath care systems failed to respond in a timely and efficient manner, lives have been, and continue to be, lost and vulnerable populations, especially refugees and migrants, are more at risk than ever as many are left out of country vaccination programmes. Aim: The Eastern Mediterranean region hosts 13 million internally displaced persons and 12 million refugees as of 2018. Thus, adopting inclusive health financing mechanisms is crucial to addressing the crisis and protecting indigenous and displaced populations. Methods: By looking at regional best practices and the response of the United Nations, we outline possible financing tools for including refugees and migrants in health insurance schemes for Covid 19 and introduce novel solutions for addressing gaps in funding. Results/conclusions: Among the suggested solutions are the inclusion of refugees and migrants in national health care systems, setting up community-based health insurance for migrant and refugee populations, as well as introducing a catastrophe bond financing scheme.

scholarly journals Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance and Control in the Mediterranean Region: report of the ARMed Consensus Conference

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (09) ◽  
pp. 654-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Borg ◽  
Barry D. Cookson ◽  
Peter Zarb ◽  
Elizabeth A. Scicluna ◽  
ARMed Steering Group & Collaborators *
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Consensus Conference ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
And Control

Antimicrobial resistance has become a global threat to effective health care delivery. This is particularly the case within the Mediterranean region, where data from recent studies suggests the situation to be particularly acute. A better knowledge base, as well as a collaborative effort, is therefore required to address this ever increasing challenge to effective patient care. Over its four-year period, the Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance and Control in the Mediterranean Region (ARMed) project investigated the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance, as well as its contributory factors, in a number of countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region through the collection of comparable and validated data. The project culminated in a consensus conference held in Malta in November 2006. The conference provided a forum for expert delegates to agree on a number of priority strategic recommendations that would be relevant to resistance containment efforts in the region. There was general agreement on the need for surveillance and audit to underpin any intervention to tackle antimicrobial resistance, both to monitor changing epidemiological trends in critical pathogens as well as to identify antibiotic consumption practices and effectiveness of prevention and control of health care associated infections. In addition, the importance to convey these data to key users was also stressed in all workshops, as was better education and training of health care workers. The recommendations also made it clear that ownership of the problem needs to be improved throughout the region and that resources, both financial as well as human, must be allocated by the respective policy makers in order to combat it.

Health care and the future of economic growth: exploring alternative perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hensher ◽  
John Tisdell ◽  
Ben Canny ◽  
Craig Zimitat
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Health Financing ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Care Systems

AbstractThe strong and positive relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and health expenditure is one of the most extensively explored topics in health economics. Since the global financial crisis, a variety of theories attempting to explain the slow recovery of the global economy have predicted that future economic growth will be slower than in the past. Others have increasingly questioned whether GDP growth is desirable or sustainable in the long term as evidence grows of humanity's impact on the natural environment. This paper reviews recent data on trends in global GDP growth and health expenditure. It examines a range of theories and scenarios concerning future global GDP growth prospects. It then considers the potential implications for health care systems and health financing policy of these different scenarios. In all cases, a core question concerns whether growth in GDP and/or growth in health expenditure in fact increases human health and well-being. Health care systems in low growth or ‘post-growth’ futures will need to be much more tightly focused on reducing overtreatment and low value care, reducing environmental impact, and on improving technical and allocative efficiency. This will require much more concerted policy and regulatory action to reduce industry rent-seeking behaviours.

scholarly journals Structural and Regional Characteristics and Cost Efficiencies in the Local Public Health Insurance System: Empirical Evidence from the Japanese National Health Insurance System

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
Michio Yuda
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
National Health Insurance ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Insurance System ◽  
Insurance System ◽  
Care Systems

<p><em>In this study, I use panel data from municipal Japanese National Health Insurance (JNHI) insurers to estimate their financial efficiency scores using nonparametric methods and to estimate the causal effects of structural and regional characteristics on the efficiency scores consistently using econometric methods. The major findings of this study are as follows. First, the estimated efficiency scores imply that many JNHI insurers have serious financial inefficiencies, and that total cost efficiency (economic efficiency) is strongly and positively correlated with allocative efficiency. Second, the empirical results of the effects of various factors on efficiency scores indicate that the two major policy reforms for health care systems for the elderly in 2008 contribute strongly to the improvement of JNHI insurers’ finances. Third, the subsidy from a prefectural government positively affects efficiencies, but subsidies from central and municipal governments have an adverse effect. Fourth, contributions to health care systems for the elderly still have an adverse effect on JNHI finances.</em></p>

Social Health Insurance in Europe: Basic Concepts and New Principles

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 665-677
Author(s):  
Claus Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
The Public ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Care Systems

Abstract This article discusses recent developments in and new principles of European social health insurance (SHI). It analyses how privatization policies and competition have altered social insurance and whether financial difficulties are caused by social insurance features not evident in other types of health care systems. There is little if any evidence that SHI causes higher cost increases than other types of systems. The comparison of five European SHI systems demonstrates that despite cost containment policies these countries do not experience a trust crisis in health care or loss in support among the public. The author shows that SHI has moved toward universal health care and that the traditional values of solidarity and social security have even been strengthened over the past decades.

Information about Health Care Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 6-53
Author(s):  
Alex Rajczi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Single Payer ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
The Government ◽  
Universal Health

One cannot discuss the ethics of health policy without understanding how health systems work, so this chapter provides background on the American health system before and after the Affordable Care Act. It also describes two universal health insurance systems the U.S. could adopt. In Canada’s single-payer system, the government serves as the basic insurer for the entire population. In the regulated-market systems of Switzerland and the Netherlands, citizens must purchase health insurance through private companies, and the government’s main jobs are providing subsidies to less wealthy individuals and ensuring that insurance companies deal fairly with citizens. The chapter concludes by examining the core ideas behind consumer-driven health care, a set of specific policies that conservatives often add to their health care proposals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document