CAMEROON
There’s strong and high-level political will to deliver UHC in Cameroon, aided by multi-sectoral collaboration. But health expenditure needs to rise if the country is to realise its vision.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Population
(Million)
24
GDP per capita
(annual)
$1,446
Human Development
Index ranking
151
UHC INDICATORS
UHC
service coverage
index
45.9%
Physicians
per 1,000
population
0.1
Catastrophic expenditure:
10% of household
consumption or income
10.8%
Source: World Health Organization: Tracking universal health coverage: 2019 Global Monitoring Report
OVERVIEW OF UHC DEVELOPMENTS
Cameroon’s commitment to UHC was reflected in a 2017 declaration by the President, which underlined the country’s determination to strengthen its health system. A national Technical Working Group on UHC (GTN-CSU) has also been established.
Working closely with the Ministry of Health, the GTN-CSU has adopted a multisectoral and intersectoral approach to address the various obstacles to UHC reforms, including developing a roadmap for moving forward. The country has also established various financing mechanism to advance UHC, including performance-based financing (PBF) and a voucher system for pregnant women, called Chèque Santé. Moreover, a long-standing public interest group, called Regional Funds for Health Promotion, located in each region of the country, enables easier and better access to quality medicines for health facilities, as well as community-based health promotion initiatives.
Nevertheless, health expenditure remains insufficient to achieve Cameron’s UHC objectives, a difficulty that is compounded relatively inefficient public financial management in the health sector. In addition, existing health financing mechanisms such as PBF, Cheque Santé and free treatment for malaria (and, soon, HIV) could produce better outcomes with greater harmonization and coordination.
Click here to see country initiatives under the L4UHC programme.
VISIT THE P4H CAMEROON PAGE