Financing health care in Sudan: Is it a time for the abolishing of user charges?

ABSTRACT

During the past fifteen years, the government of Sudan introduced a number of initiatives to finance heath care in general, and essential medicines in particular, as part of health reform. The lack of evidence-based policymaking means that the government subjectively changes health care financing policies frequently. It is clear that the intent of the government has been to increase equity of access to health services of acceptable quality. The evaluation study conducted by Mohamed [1] represents the first empirical evidence of the impact of Cost-Sharing Policy [CSP], in general, and Revolving Drug Fund [RDF], in particular, on the accessibility to essential medicines and thereby the utilization of public health facilities. In this article, the health financing mechanisms adopted and the future of the CSP will be discussed