Findings on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions Discussed by Investigators at Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (The People’s Voice Survey On Health System Performance 3 the Path To Universal Health Coverage In Five African and Asian …): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2024 FEB 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Mental Health Diseases and Conditions. According to news originating from Basel, Switzerland, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Despite major efforts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), progress has lagged in many African and Asian countries. A key strategy pursued by many countries is the use of health insurance to increase access and affordability.”

Financial supporters for this research include QuEST Network, CGIAR, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Merck & Company, Wellcome Trust, Wellcome Trust.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, “However, evidence on insurance coverage and on the association between insurance and UHC is mixed. We analysed nationally representative cross-sectional data collected between 2022 and 2023 in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, India, and Laos. We described public and private insurance coverage by sociodemographic factors and used logistic regression to examine the associations between insurance status and seven health-care use outcomes. Health insurance coverage ranged from 25% in India to 100% in Laos. The share of private insurance ranged from 1% in Ethiopia to 13% in South Africa. Relative to the population with private insurance, the uninsured population had reduced odds of health-care use (adjusted odds ratio 0 center dot 68, 95% CI 0 center dot 50-0 center dot 94), cardiovascular examinations (0 center dot 63, 0 center dot 47-0 center dot 85), eye and dental examinations (0 center dot 54, 0 center dot 42-0 center dot 70), and ability to get or afford care (0 center dot 64, 0 center dot 48-0 center dot 86); private insurance was not associated with unmet need, mental health care, and cancer screening. Relative to private insurance, public insurance was associated with reduced odds of health-care use (0 center dot 60, 0 center dot 43-0 center dot 82), mental health care (0 center dot 50, 0 center dot 31-0 center dot 80), cardiovascular examinations (0 center dot 62, 0 center dot 46-0 center dot 84), and eye and dental examinations (0 center dot 50, 0 center dot 38-0 center dot 65). Results were highly heterogeneous across countries. Public health insurance appears to be only weakly associated with access to health services in the countries studied.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Further research is needed to improve understanding of these associations and to identify the most effective financing strategies to achieve UHC.”

For more information on this research see: The People’s Voice Survey On Health System Performance 3 the Path To Universal Health Coverage In Five African and Asian Countries: Examining the Association Between Insurance Status and Health-care Use. The Lancet Global Health, 2024;12(1). The Lancet Global Health can be contacted at: Elsevier Sci Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, Oxon, England.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Gunther Flink, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Additional authors for this research include Emily Odipo, Emelda A. Okiro, Jacinta Nzinga, Prashant Jarhyan, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Sailesh Mohan, Amit Aryal, Emma Clarke-Deelder, Moshabela Mosa, Munir Kassa Eshetu, Todd P. Lewis, Neena R. Kapoor and Margaret E. Kruk.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X%2823%2900510-7. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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