06/04/2016
Ethiopia has started to provide universal health coverage to the entire population with the help of Spanish Cooperation through its APIA Programme.
Photo: AECID. AECID and FIIAPP cooperation experts with the Ethiopian delegation.
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) (AECID) and the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) are managing the Support for Inclusive Public Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa Programme (APIA).
Spanish Cooperation is promoting in Ethiopia the establishment of universal health coverage. One of the steps to achieving this is to train the Ethiopian civil servants who, under the Ethiopia Health Insurance Agency, will be responsible for managing this project which will benefit the Ethiopian population as a whole.
An Ethiopian delegation came to Madrid recently and visited the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality; the Hospital Clínico San Carlos; the Carlos III Public Health Institute; and the General Office of Social Security; among other Spanish institutions. In addition, meetings were held with the institutions that manage the APIA Programme, AECID and FIIAPP.
The Ethiopia Health Insurance Agency, starting in 2015 and continuing to May 2016, is, in turn, hosting a specialist assigned by Spanish Cooperation to support the development of universal health insurance coverage that will benefit the Ethiopian population as a whole. The intervention is within the framework of the strategy of the Ethiopia Health Insurance Agency and the country’s health policy “Health for All”.
While the Spanish expert is supporting the Agency in consolidating the system from the standpoint of financial viability, the objective of the Ethiopian professionals’ study visit to Spain was to learn about the Spanish experience in developing a public health system with universal coverage so that they can apply similar mechanisms to the federal structure of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is, according to the Fourth Master Plan, a priority country for Spanish Cooperation, which supports national strategies in the rural development and health sectors, funding projects in these sectors in the regions of Somali, Afar, and Oromiya.
The APIA Programme of Support for Inclusive Public Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa is an initiative of Spanish Cooperation which aims to accompany local processes of formulation and monitoring of public policies for providing access to resources and services to the population as a whole, thereby contributing to reducing poverty and inequality and promoting inclusive growth.
