Expanding Digital Financial Services for Health: HP+ Experts Featured as Part of HSR2020
Massive global growth in digital connectivity and the use of mobile phones and has increased the potential to leverage digital financial services to facilitate equitable health access for unbanked populations, many of whom are reside in emerging economies. HP+ health financing and digital technical leaders Arin Dutta, Shreeshant Prabhakaran, and Liz Nerad led a discussion on the role of digital financial services in supporting these countries on their journey to universal health coverage. The discussion set out to demystify digital financial services – banking, insurance, payments, and investments accessed by phones, computers, electronic cards, and vouchers – for an audience of the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2020) on February 10, 2021. At the Palladium-sponsored event, along with experts from PharmAccess Foundation and Common Health, our HP+ colleagues discussed why digital financial services for health are an important factor in the future of health service delivery, how they can expand access to health and help avert catastrophic health expenditures. They also discussed why the COVID-19 pandemic presents a critical juncture to leverage digital financial services to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
