We are pleased to report that the first official HFACT publication is now live!

An effort lead by HFACT researcher Thomas Hone (Imperial College School of Public Health) along with contributions from HFACT partners at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York, Instituto de Estudos para Políticas de Saúde, (IEPS), the Institute for Economic Growth, Delhi (IEG), the SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science (PRICELESS SA), the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Studies (CHEPS) Universitas Indonesia, and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) has published cross-country research in The Lancet Global Health.

This research highlights limitations to benefits to poorer families when rolling out Universal Health Care (UHC). The analysis of 6- lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) shows that expanding healthcare services results in reductions in infant mortality – with the largest reductions for poorer households. However, as coverage increases, the benefits to poorer households start to decrease with factors such as socioeconomic barriers to access, variation in healthcare quality and health insurance schemes increasingly playing a role. The researchers conclude that policies should be better designed to ensure lower income groups continue to benefit as coverage expands.

Dr Thomas Hone said: “We’re seeing that richer populations are actually benefiting more than the poorest. This goes contrary to much of what is set out by the World Health Organization – where poorest populations should be targeted – and we urgently need policy change to address this.”

Read the full paper: Progress towards universal health coverage and inequalities infant mortality: an analysis of 4.1 million births from 60 low-income and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2019.