Ethiopia, a low-income country in Eastern Africa and the second most populous country on the continent, is committed to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). The country’s 2022–2031 health financing strategy aims to accelerate progress toward that goal by increasing access to primary health care (PHC), expanding subsidized community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes, subsidizing user fees through government budget allocations, and providing exemptions (no-cost services) for priority interventions.
The assessment, which employed the Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Tracking Framework and its accompanying tools, looked at health purchasing arrangements and provider payment mechanisms across 11 purchasers and 17 providers as representative of the many schemes at the federal, regional, and district (woreda) levels. It yielded insights into how provider payment practices are working, what needs improvement, and what lessons can be drawn for policymakers.