India’s transgender people gain access to social health insurance

April 12, 2023

India’s transgender people gain access to social health insurance

In an inspiring example of Germany’s feminist development policy in action, the Indo-German Universal Health Coverage (IGUHC) project is supporting the Government of India to extend social health insurance to the transgender community, upholding their rights to free, quality health services.

Planting seeds of change in India: How communal gardening and learning about nutrition improves families’ lives and transforms gender roles

March 15, 2023

Planting seeds of change in India: How communal gardening and learning about nutrition improves families’ lives and transforms gender roles

In the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra a gender-transformative project is breaking the cycle of malnutrition to empower women, through knowledge and employment, to access a balanced range of nutritious home-grown foods for their children, themselves and their families.

Portrait: Dr Nishant Jain, ‘midwife’ of two of the world’s biggest public health insurance schemes

March 9, 2022

Portrait: Dr Nishant Jain, ‘midwife’ of two of the world’s biggest public health insurance schemes

Days before his shift to the Asian Development Bank’s Manila office, Dr Jain shared highlights from his extraordinary career to date.

The complex quest for coordinated health financing in Cambodia

July 9, 2021

The complex quest for coordinated health financing in Cambodia

A German-supported coordination mechanism, and one key advisor in particular, indicate a possible way forward with the big ‘4Gs’.

Training hospitals in costing in the midst of a pandemic

February 12, 2021

Training hospitals in costing in the midst of a pandemic

In Pakistan a GIZ project reinvents its approach to capacity development – with considerable success!

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Social health protection

Social health protection is an important stepping-stone on the way to Universal Health Coverage.

Poor health is among the most important life cycle risks targeted by Social Protection: The financial impact of expensive treatment is deepened by the sick worker’s lack of income, and with insufficient funds patients may settle for partial or no treatment, further jeopardising health and life. 

With a view to achieving Universal Health Coverage, countries have been introducing social health protection schemes to ensure access to affordable healthcare for their poorest and most vulnerable citizens. German development cooperation actively supports partner governments in this complex process, which includes managing information on demography and disease burden, ensuring access to health services, and alignment with health and social protection policies on the different administrative levels. Equally important are definition of criteria for the benefits package and for the selection of beneficiaries, and the interplay and exchange of data between stakeholders (government, insurance companies and health providers) while keeping in mind issues such as health financing, including options such as risk pooling among beneficiary groups of different means.

The articles, studies and events presented on this page document multiple experiences of German development cooperation in supporting partner countries’ social health protection measures.

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