St Lucia’s government is moving to establish Universal Health Coverage

CASTRIES, St. Lucia– Government says it is moving towards developing a “white paper” that will guide the island’s efforts at achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to improve health systems and ensure that affordable and quality health care is provided to St.t Lucians.

“We have also taken the recommendation of the ministry that we create a specific unit for the Universal Health Coverage program, and we have created that unit, and we are currently looking to staff that unit to ensure we have focused attention on Universal Health Coverage,” said Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs Minister, Moses Jn Baptiste.

“We believe it is essential for the people of Saint Lucia. When we look at our disease profile and the challenges that we have in health care and also when we look at the cost of health care, we know that the people of Saint Lucia require that kind of assistance.”

A government statement said that a committee comprising professionals within the Ministry of Health and professionals within the public sector met recently, focusing on developing a roadmap to outline the strategic direction of UHC.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, Jenny Daniel, said the ongoing consultation is intended to allow participants to develop a “white paper” to shape the plan for implementing UHC.

“The white paper speaks to the policy, the major overriding and overarching policy that will determine how UHC is to be implemented in St. Lucia, as in what is our starting point and where is the vision, where we would like to go, the place we would like to get to in terms of the provision of our health services and the impact it will have on Saint Lucians.”

“So, the white paper is a structured document that will outline our goals, objectives, and vision and objectives for UHC and how exactly we expect to get there. We also touched on funding or financing of the initiatives and project and exactly where we will be and giving a proper time frame for it as well,” Daniel said.

Daniel said a series of consultations would be undertaken in the coming weeks with the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and client group stakeholders.

Cabinet has approved the first phase of UHC’s implementation, which will commence with the performance-based financing component.