Cameroon: Health Ministry organising plan for the universal healthcare coverage

The National Inter-sector Technical Committee in charge of providing Cameroon with a universal healthcare coverage system, just presented the organisational and technical aspects of the possible set-ups for said system whose development plan will be development and produced during the first half of 2017. Its legal framework will also be submitted this year.

The operation of this system, according to the Committee, rests on the establishment of a single national structure in charge of the technical and financial management of the healthcare coverage. This structure will have to make the proposals on the range of care and health services available to all. To access it, every Cameroonian citizen will need to have a national healthcare system card with a unique ID number. They will be able to access healthcare and services throughout the country. This implies a biometric registration for all. The registration will be carried out at registration points. On this topic, André Mama Fouda, Minister of Health who heads this technical Committee, believes that the current system for Elections Cameroon (organisation in charge of the elections) may be solicited to carry out this operation.

With regards to financial contributions, they would be automatically deducted from the pension by the relevant units in the Finance Ministry and Public Treasury for retired civil servants. While for those retired from the private sector, the deductions would be made on the pension by the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS – Social Security Fund). For workers in the informal and agricultural sectors, the idea would be to raise taxes by the amount of the national healthcare insurance contribution. For poor and vulnerable people, their membership would be undertaken by decentralised regional governments, based on a methodology and criteria set out at the national level.

As a reminder, based on official statistics, 37% of the Cameroonian population lives under the monetary poverty line. This situation prevents most from accessing healthcare.