UHC in the CIS countries: key figures and the meaning behind them

WHO provides two key indicators of universal coverage for each country:

1. Health Service Coverage Index (3.8.1)

2. Proportion of households with catastrophic health spending (3.8.2)

According to the new global report, the indicators in the CIS countries are as follows:

• Armenia — 69 / 23.5%

• Azerbaijan - 67 / 9.1%

• Belarus - 80 / 12.2%

• Kazakhstan - 83 / 9.8%

• Kyrgyzstan - 74 / 9.6%

• Russian Federation - 81 / 15.4%

• Tajikistan - 72 / 30.8%

• Uzbekistan — 79 / 22.7%

The first number is the service coverage index, the second is the proportion of families facing catastrophic spending.

Why is the service coverage index relatively high in the CIS?

Most countries in the region are heirs to the Semashko system. This means:

• a wide network of hospitals and clinics,

• a high supply of hospital beds,

• a well-developed primary care system,

• traditionally high access to basic medical services.

For countries where the index already exceeds 80 (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia), further growth is possible mainly due to:

• better diagnosis and control of chronic non-communicable diseases (arterial hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases),

• improved outpatient monitoring and early detection.

What does a high share of catastrophic spending mean?

This indicator reflects the financial security of the population.

In the CIS countries, the main source of catastrophic spending is out-of-pocket payments for medications and outpatient treatment.

Even with good access to health care, if medications remain unaffordable, families continue to face devastating financial burdens.

Improving the situation requires:

• Expanding drug provision programs,

• Introducing universal drug insurance,

• Reducing the share of direct payments for drugs.