Informing the design of policies aimed at increasing health financial protection to accelerate universal health coverage in West Africa

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23K24567
Project/Area Number (Other)	22H03309 (2022-2023)
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund (2024) Single-year Grants (2022-2023)
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 58010:Medical management and medical sociology-related
Research Institution	Hitotsubashi University
Principal Investigator	Rouyard Thomas 一橋大学, 社会科学高等研究院, HIAS客員研究員 (40859542)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	中村良太一橋大学, 社会科学高等研究院, 教授 (00717209)
Project Period (FY)	2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
Project Status	Granted (Fiscal Year 2024)
Budget Amount *help	¥10,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥8,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,400,000) Fiscal Year 2024: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000) Fiscal Year 2023: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000) Fiscal Year 2022: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
Keywords	Healthcare coverage / Financial protection / West Africa / Universal healthcare / Universal coverage
Outline of Research at the Start	In addition to providing up-to-date estimates of the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures in 8 West African countries where data are currently lacking, this research will explore the potential impacts of reforming public health insurance systems on the economic welfare of target populations by means of simulation studies.
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	The purpose of this research project is twofold. Firstly, we aim to provide up-to-date estimates of the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures and health insurance coverage in the eight countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), where data are currently lacking. Secondly, we aim to explore the potential impacts of reforming public health insurance systems on the economic welfare of target populations by means of simulation studies. The overarching objective of the project is to inform the development of better-informed policies aimed at increasing financial health protection to accelerate universal health coverage (UHC) in the region. In 2022, we collected, cleaned, and analyzed the first wave of data on the living conditions of households in the WAEMU region, in close collaboration with our colleagues at Harvard University and at the WAEMU's Office of Statistics. In March 2023, the Principal Investigator visited policymakers from the WAEMU region in Dakar, Senegal, to present the preliminary research findings and to consolidate their interpretation. A manuscript intended to be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal is currently in preparation to report on the abovementioned key UHC indicators over the period 2018-2022.
Current Status of Research Progress	Current Status of Research Progress 2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned. Reason The research project is progressing as expected. Data cleaning, analysis, and interpretation of the first wave of data has been completed. Support and positive feedback on the preliminary findings were received from WAEMU policymakers. Analysis of the second wave of data, which we expect to be available in June 2023, will be added to the current analysis. We plan to submit a first manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal in 2023.
Strategy for Future Research Activity	In the first half of 2023, we will keep working in close collaboration with our colleagues at Harvard University to produce up-to-date estimates of the rates of catastrophic health expenditures and health insurance coverage in the WAEMU region. The second wave of data will be available in June 2023, which will allow us to analyze the trends in these key UHC indicators between 2018 (first wave) and 2022 (second wave). In the second half of 2023, a manuscript will be submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal to disseminate these findings to the largest possible audience. We will also start implementing the second phase of the project, i.e. simulation studies to explore the impacts of reforming public health insurance systems on the well-being of populations.