Abolition of user fees: the Uganda paradox

Maintaining quality of health services after abolition of user fees: A Uganda case study

BACKGROUND It has been argued that quality improvements that result from user charges reduce their negative impact on utilization especially of the poor. In Uganda, because there was no concrete evidence for improvements in quality of care following the introduction of user charges, the government abolished user fees in all public health units on 1st March 2001. This gave us the opportunity to ...

Community health insurance amidst abolition of user fees in Uganda: the view from policy makers and health service managers

BACKGROUND This paper investigates knowledge of Community Health Insurance (CHI) and the perception of its relevance by key policy makers and health service managers in Uganda. Community Health Insurance schemes currently operate in the private-not-for-profit sector, in settings where church-based facilities function. They operate in a wider policy environment where user fees in the public sect...

User fees abolition policy in Niger: comparing the under five years exemption implementation in two districts.

OBJECTIVE Analysis of the implementation process for a national user fees abolition policy aimed at children under age five organized in Niger since October 2006. METHODS This was a study of contrasted cases. Two districts were selected, Keita and Abalak; Keita is supported by an international NGO. In 2009, we carried out socio-anthropological surveys in all the health facilities of both dist...

No user fees, but perhaps user fees.

A scoping review of the literature on the abolition of user fees in health care services in Africa.

In Africa, user fees constitute a financial barrier to access to health services. Increasingly, international aid agencies are supporting countries that abolish such fees. However, African decision-makers want to know if eliminating payment for services is effective and how it can be implemented. For this reason, given the increase in experiences and the repeated requests from decision-makers f...