Promoting and protecting health is essential to human welfare and sustained economic and social development. Adequate education, housing, food and employment all have deep impact on health. Redressing inequalities in these areas will reduce inequalities in health. It determines whether people can afford to use health services when they need them. Health financing is an important part of broader efforts to ensure social protection in health. Recognizing this, Myanmar committed to strengthening its health financing systems so that all people have access to services and do not suffer financial hardships paying for them.
The following target indicators are proposed to monitor and evaluate overall progress in attaining universal coverage in country: out- of-pocket should not exceed 30% - 40% of total health expenditure; total health expenditure should be at least 4%-5% of the gross domestic product; over 90% of the population should be covered by prepayment and risk-pooling schemes; and close to 100% coverage of vulnerable populations attained through social assistance and safety-net programmes