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Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2022

The Role of Cooperatives and Mutual Health Organizations in the Extension of Non-discriminatory Universal Health Insurance in Africa

Résumé

In most African countries, there is no universal health insurance. More seriously, the national funds for social insurance, open only to formal sector workers do not support the risk of disease. Therefore, people do not have access to quality health care, given the high prices practiced in health centers. Rich people can afford the prices for private insurance schemes, but the poor (more numerous) are left to themselves with no insurance. Yet, every human being has the right to health, as recalled by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25) or the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 12). That is a reason why in recent years, programs for the promotion of mutual health organizations (MHO) have been developed on the continent as an alternative for access to health care for all. Mutual societies are autonomous associations of people who want to organize their own health care by means of contributions and through a contract with a health center. It is therefore a service organized by private actors to provide social services (sanitary) normally devolved to the State, and following a solidarity approach. In 2014, a study was conducted on the state of MHOs and it was found that their penetration rate do not exceed 2% in most countries, even though they are accessible to all. Various reasons may explain this weakness. The main reasons include the non-respect of health care agreements in health centers (usually public hospitals), as well as the difficulty of collecting contributions due to irregular incomes of members of MHOs, usually informal sector actors. On the first point, it was proposed to associate health cooperative clinics (HCC) with MHOs. The clinics are the property of the MHO and the problem of agreement may find a solution. Moreover, the cooperative and the mutual society share the same operating principles, as social and solidarity economy organizations. On the second point, it was advised to make contracts with organized groups, in particular agricultural cooperatives, in order to facilitate the collection of contributions with the help of savings and credit cooperatives. These experiments are currently under way in various African countries, and we intend to focus on Cameroon. The ambition is to raise public awareness of the possibility of laying the groundwork for public universal health insurance based on the experience of cooperatives and MHOs. The purpose of this reflection is to examine the conditions to be fulfilled in order for cooperatives and mutual societies to play a leading role in the access to quality healthcare insurance, as well as the promotion of right to health care for all. Thus, in assessing the consequences of the absence of mandatory health insurance, the prospect is to see to what extent such insurance can emerge in African countries, especially in Cameroon, following the experience of European countries, particularly Belgium, where this mandatory health insurance is carried by MHOs.
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Dates et versions

hal-04559616 , version 1 (25-04-2024)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04559616 , version 1

Citer

Willy Tadjudje, Clément Labi. The Role of Cooperatives and Mutual Health Organizations in the Extension of Non-discriminatory Universal Health Insurance in Africa. Margarida LIMA Rego; Birgit KUSCHKE. Insurance and Human Rights, Springer, pp.113-127, 2022. ⟨hal-04559616⟩

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