Social health protection

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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.