On February 3-5, R4D and its partners convened delegations from six countries – Ghana, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - for a Joint Learning Workshop on Universal Health Coverage in Gurgaon, India. The three day workshop served as a forum for participants to share their experiences implementing health reforms and learn from other countries.

The workshop featured country-led panel discussions on issues such as how to define the scope of health insurance coverage and reach poor families, and how to improve the performance of the government and the private sector in regulating and implementing efficient insurance programs. Practitioners from the six countries also wrestled with challenges in areas like improving health service quality through financial incentives, using provider payment methods to contain costs, and adopting information technologies to enhance the performance of the health insurance system.

One day prior to the start of the workshop, participants went on site visits near Delhi to learn about the RSBY smart card, an innovative electronic enrollment and record keeping mechanism being implemented in India’s 23 states as part of its new health insurance scheme for the poor.

Anil Swarup, head of the RSBY scheme in India, lauded the workshop as "one of the most remarkable conferences that [he has] attended in [his] career spanning 29 years,” further noting that “discussions were focused and extremely relevant."

David Zakus from the International Development Research Centre in Canada commented "what made it 'landmark' and unique in my experience was the systematic design of the symposium to make it a true south-south dialogue on an issue of great concern to all"

At the end of the workshop, participants from the six countries called for more cross-learning activities, such as obtaining technical advice from Thailand on how its government had designed and put in place a system of capitated payments for outpatient medical care as part of its national health insurance program.

Visit www.jointlearningworkshop.org for an interactive meeting report including workshop materials, participants’ reflections, videos and photos.

This workshop was planned in consultation with delegation leads from each participating country, and with support from a number of partners, including the ACCESS Health Initiative, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GTZ, the International Labour Organization, the Providing for Health (P4H) Initiative, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Bank.