One in five women in WHO Southeast Asia region covered under health insurance, study estimates

The Hindu

16 hours ago

About one in every five women in the WHO Southeast Asia Region, including India, are covered under a health insurance, a study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia has estimated.
One in eight women in the region — defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) — were enrolled in social security schemes. At the same time, only one in thirteen had privately purchased or commercial insurance, the analysis reveals.
The 'WHO Southeast Asia Region' includes India, among other countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indonesia. Researchers from Health Systems Transformation Platform and Population Council Consulting Private Limited, New Delhi, also found that one in four men in the region had health insurance coverage, with the highest prevalence seen in Indonesia at over 56 per cent and lowest in Myanmar at about 1.5 per cent.
In India, the prevalence of health insurance uptake was 53 per cent among women and 56 per cent among men, the team found. The highest levels of health insurance coverage for women and men in the region were found in Indonesia, while the lowest levels were reported in Bangladesh and Myanmar, respectively.
Addressing limited health insurance coverage
Equity in accessing quality healthcare without experiencing financial hardship is key to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) — one of the core aims of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals — especially in low- and middle-income countries in the WHO Southeast Asia Region, the authors of the study said. They added that healthcare demands and costs are expected to rise in the region as populations age. However, high out-of-pocket expenditures remain a barrier despite health insurance programmes in the region, they said.
The study analysed socioeconomic and demographic factors to estimate coverage under any health insurance, using data from Demographic and Health Surveys (2015-2022) conducted in the WHO Southeast Asia Region every five years.
"Approximately one in five women in the region were covered by any form of health insurance," the authors wrote. "In contrast, one in four men in the region had any health insurance coverage, with the highest prevalence observed in Indonesia (56.6 per cent) and the lowest in Myanmar (1.4 per cent)," they wrote.
Older age, higher education levels, and higher exposure to media were found to positively influence insurance coverage for both men and women in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Beyond individual factors
Further, beyond individual factors, contextual ones such as government commitment, design and implementation of insurance schemes and economic conditions are crucial in determining health insurance coverage, the authors said.
Traditional beliefs and a lack of trust in formal financial systems can hinder insurance adoption among South Asian communities, they added.
Evidence suggests that in rural areas of India, Nepal and Bangladesh, people relied on community-based informal support systems over formal insurance, reflecting cultural preferences that affect enrolment rates, the team said.
Bridging the health coverage gap
The study's findings, therefore, highlight that country-specific contexts need to be addressed to effectively expand health insurance coverage, the authors said.
They suggested policies should prioritise building sustainable health financing systems, making healthcare infrastructures more resilient, and fostering widespread awareness in the community about the benefits of health insurance.
Further, strategies aimed at resolving socioeconomic disparities and for the underinsured populations are vital in advancing equitable health insurance access and accelerating progress towards UHC, the team said.