The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the European Union Delegation to Zambia and the International Labour Organization are launching today, 15 June 2022, a new project called “Accelerating the extension of coverage of the Zambia National Health Insurance scheme to the poor and vulnerable through the strengthening of national capacity in actuarial modelling”.
The project aims to contribute to implementing the Zambia National Strategy on Extension of Social Security Coverage to the informal economy workers through the application of health actuarial costing models to quantify the financial implications associated with the extension of health benefits to non-contributing participants. In particular, the project will contribute to the extension of social health insurance coverage in Zambia through: i) the improvement of the internal capacities of the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) to monitor the financial sustainability of the social health insurance scheme, as a key determinant of its capacity to sustain the scheme over time and ensure effective management of health care costs and; ii) support to progress an evidence-based preliminary consensus amongst key stakeholders on the concrete modalities of extension of non-contributory coverage to the population considered under section 16(c) of the National Health Insurance Act, and on the road map for further extension.
The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the vulnerable population groups referenced under section 16(c) of the National Health Insurance Act who will benefit directly from the extension of social health insurance coverage, and more broadly the general population covered by the national health insurance scheme on a sustainable and equitable basis, today and in the future.
Learn more about the project here.
Launch event
A launch event was held today, 15 June 2022, bringing together representatives of partners engaged in the project as the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA), the ILO Country Office and the European Union Delegation to Zambia. A high-level panel presented this new project in the context of the socio-economic impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had in Zambia and its alignment with the national strategy on the extension of social security coverage.