The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region. The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.
The latest MED BRIEF on “Can Universal Health Coverage Systems (UHCs) Achieve Health Equity? Institutional Lessons Learnt from a Set of Countries to the Newly Born System in Egypt” by Dina Atef Mandour, Cairo University, is available here.
Summary
This policy brief outlines the main institutional factors that can help in incorporating the health equity dimension within the newly born universal health insurance (UHI) system in Egypt. This is particularly needed during the ongoing health crisis created by the COVID-19. It focuses mainly on three main institutional pillars, namely population and services coverage, means of finance, and structure that are of paramount importance to ensure the success or failure of any UHC while encompassing the equity dimension. Such institutional aspects have their origins embedded in the political system and historical evolvement of health systems in general. Thus understanding the workings of the system within this context is vital as an initial point for real reform. This is addressed in a comparative framework where a set of divergent non-homogenous countries is chosen to underpin the importance of political economy in explaining the UHC’s performance while focusing on equity.