Addis Ababa, 29 August 2006-- Low investment in health, huge out-of-pocket payments for health services, inadequate health financing policies and limited coverage by health insurance constitute some of the major challenges African governments must address to improve the quality of health care in the region.

To address these and related issues the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a strategy which, if implemented, would lead to the development of equitable, efficient and sustainable national health financing to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals and other national health goals.

The strategy paper was presented Tuesday by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, to the fifty-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Proposed interventions contained in the document centre around strengthening the three functions of health financing: namely, revenue allocation, revenue pooling and risk management, resource allocating and purchasing.

The principles to guide the choice and implementation of priority health financing interventions outlined in the strategy document are: country ownership; efficiency and transparency; risk sharing; evidence-based decision-making, and the forging of partnerships.

It urged countries to develop a comprehensive health financing strategy and a strategic plan which have a clear roadmap for achieving the MDG targets and, eventually, universal coverage. In 2001, African Heads of State set a target of allocating at least 15% of national their annual budgets to health. However, as 2002, 43 of the 46 countries in the region had not met this target. Also, 31 countries failed to meet the WHO Commission for Macroeconomics and Health recommendation of US$34 per capita expenditure for health.

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