In early October, 2016 the Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project supported the delivery of the 2016 Asia Regional Flagship Course on Health Systems Strengthening and Sustainable Financing: The Challenge of Universal Health Coverage in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Network for Health Systems Strengthening (ANHSS), USAID, and the World Bank, the course was the third regional course supported by USAID through HFG—following a 2015 course in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and 2014 course in Bangkok, Thailand.

Countries across the Asia region are at different stages on the road to universal health coverage (UHC) and can benefit from sharing lessons with other countries in the region. The course provided an opportunity for attendees to share analytic frameworks to increase the understanding of UHC policy reforms, and a forum to share information with key policymakers from across the region.

The Flagship Course for the Asia Region on the Challenge of Universal Health Coverage – Health System Strengthening and Sustainable Financing was targeted at country teams of mid- and high-level health, finance, and social insurance policymakers, development partners, and other key stakeholders including academics. The course was taught and facilitated by a combined team of Harvard faculty who teach the World Bank’s Global Flagship Course and ANHSS faculty from the Asia Pacific region.

Delegates to the workshop came from nine countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Krgyz Republic, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam, and the United States. The five-day course focused heavily on financing in the context of UHC.