Cote d'Ivoire moves towards health insurance for all

Abidjan- Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The Ivorian government is working on a bill to prescribe universal health insurance for the entire population including foreign nationals, a release in Abidjan said Friday.
According to the release, the bill is aimed at "accessing everyone living on Ivorian territory to its health care system".
The scheme would cover 85 percent of the population, especially farmers, children, people in dire social need, workers in the informal sector, who are still "excluded from the current social security system".
The release adds that the funding of the universal health insurance "is mainly based on the key principle of national solidarity, which implies a financial contribution through a subscription for each citizen, while the State just chips in subsidies.
" Two special funds are to be set up, one to provide health insurance cover for farmers, fishermen and cattle breeders.
The two funds would ensure the collective management of risks, health control, costs in Medicare, preventive information and education.
Beneficiaries would get consultations, lab tests, surgical treatment, hospitalisation, drugs and dental care.
Oversight of the insurance scheme to lie in the hands of a tripartite board comprising the State, employers unions and workers unions.
The bill would be tabled in Parliament when it meets next month in extraordinary session.