For the first phase, the State will have to contribute 46% of the amount and could resort to parafiscal taxes on certain products such as tobacco, alcohol but also mobile phones.

The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) was officially launched on April 12 in Mandjou in the East region. Manaouda Malachie, Minister of Public Health announced that the pilot phase of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is financed to the tune of 95 billion CFA francs. This budget, said the Minister, is geared towards the purchase of services and medical inputs, with CFAF 47 billion (49.5%) of the funds coming from the State of Cameroon and CFAF 48 billion (50.3%) from technical and financial partners of Cameroon.

The minister said that health facilities must be reimbursed when they provide services. In addition, the main targets of this scheme are district hospitals, district medical centres and health centres of the 4th, 5th and 6th categorie, “in its simple understanding, the Universal Health Coverage provides that each person should have access to the full range of quality health services he or she needs, when and where he or she needs them, without money being a hindrance. In Cameroon, health indicators have not improved significantly over the past 20 years,” said the minister.

The population bears a large part of the financial burden of health expenses. The will of the Head of State, which is in line with the requirements of the World Health Organisation, is to ensure equitable access to health services for all. Projects such as the Health Cheque and the various subsidies for certain diseases are part of this political will.