For countries that aspire to achieve the goal of Universal Health Coverage, the question of how to increase funding for health is of fundamental importance; donor funding can be unstable and insurance schemes often exclude marginalised and the poorest populations. Ensuring ‘health for all’ requires substantial increases in funding from domestic sources in a sustainable and equitable manner.
One way of increasing revenue is through improved tax collection and larger total government budgets.
In South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria (Lagos State), researchers have documented country experiences of improving the effectiveness of their tax collection systems and investigated whether this has contributed to more resources for health.
This webinar will:
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Describe how governments have managed to increase tax revenue without raising tax rates, comparing approaches across the three country studies
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Highlight efforts to collect tax from the informal sector in Kenya and Nigeria
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Discuss the extent to which increased tax revenue has led to additional funding for health
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Share policy recommendations about how to make a better case for health during budget negotiations.
The webinar will be introduced by Professor Di McIntyre from the Health Economics Unit at the University of Cape Town, followed by a presentation from Dr Jane Doherty, affiliated with the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand. Dr Jane Doherty will present an overview of the research followed by a Q&A session with Dr Doris Kirigia from the Kemri Wellcome Trust and Dr Hyacinth Ichoku from the Health Policy Research Group who will be available to answer questions from their specific settings in Kenya and Nigeria.
How to join
The webinar will be held on 13 July 2016, at 2pm BST (GMT+1).
You can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/590918917
You can also dial in using your phone. United Kingdom : +44 (0) 330 221 0086
Access Code: 590-918-917
First GoToMeeting? Try a test session: http://help.citrix.com/getready
If you are interested in joining the webinar please RSVP or email sephy [dot] valuks [at] lshtm [dot] ac [dot] uk to receive a reminder on the day.
Related resources
Research overview: Increasing domestic public funding for health
