An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Monitoring progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires an assessment of progress in coverage of health services and protection of households from the impact of direct out-of-pocket payments (i.e. financial risk protection).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is currently considerable discussion between governments, international agencies, bilateral donors and advocacy groups on whether user fees levied at government health facilities in poor countries should be abolished. It is claimed that this would lead to greater access for the poor and reduce the risks of catastrophic health expenditures if all other factors remained constant, though other factors rarely remain constant in practice. Accordingly, it is important to understand what has actually happened when user fees have been abolished, and why.
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