Financing mechanisms applied for successful Universal Health Coverage in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore - Lessons for Pakistan

Universal health coverage is a global agenda and, currently for Pakistan, achieving this goal is a challenge because of a number of constraints. The current narrative review was planned to describe an overview of the provision of health insurance in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore that have achieved universal health coverage, and to propose a roadmap for Pakistan. Literature search was conducted on Google Scholar and PubMed databases as well as on the World Bank website to retrieve relevant articles. The three studied countries achieved universal health coverage by gradually increasing allocation for health and through various mechanisms, such as health insurance schemes which covered different segments of the population, and partnerships with private-sector care-providers. Pakistan needs to prioritise health in policy agenda because health insurance is negligible in Pakistan. Additionally, Pakistan also needs to efficiently utilise partnerships with the private sector to further increase healthcare coverage.