Opening Remarks by Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. WHA79 Side Event: Health Financing Ministerial Roundtable

20 MAY 2026

Excellencies,

Honourable Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health, Republic of Ghana

Dr Budi G. Sadikin, Minister of Health, Republic of Indonesia

Dr Syed Mustafa Kamal, Minister of Health, Pakistan

Dr Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of Health, Sudan

Dr Sherin Varkey, Practice Manager for Health, Nutrition and Population for the World Bank in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan

Distinguished colleagues,

Good evening, and thank you for joining us.

Health financing is no longer just a technical discussion, but a strategic and political imperative.

Across all WHO regions, countries face the same challenge: how to sustain progress towards universal health coverage at a time of fiscal pressure, competing national priorities, and declining external support.

For the Eastern Mediterranean, these pressures cut especially deep. We represent almost 9% of the world's population, yet account for less than 2% of global health spending. Two out of every three people cannot access the care they need. Around 28% experience financial hardship from out-of-pocket payments, and one in five is forced to cut spending on food, education, or other essentials just to access care.

At the same time, conflict and fragility continue to increase health needs while placing additional strain on already limited public resources.

We used to describe this as inequitable and inefficient. Today, it is also clearly unsustainable.

There is no single solution. But we know where action is needed.

Countries need stronger domestic public financing for health particularly for PHC and essential public health functions. Systems that remain overly dependent on external financing are not resilient.

Reducing out-of-pocket spending remains critical. Expanding prepayment and risk pooling mechanisms, including through stronger health insurance arrangements, is essential to protecting vulnerable populations.

At the same time, countries must improve efficiency and value for money through strategic purchasing, stronger public financial management, pooled procurement, and digital tools.

Innovative financing must be used strategically. Health taxes, blended financing, and Islamic financing instruments can help expand fiscal space when integrated into national systems.

Across our Region, countries are already advancing reforms in different ways.

Bahrain is establishing its national health insurance programme.

Egypt is implementing a pioneering Universal Health Insurance Law.

Jordan is advancing comprehensive primary health care and financing reforms.

Pakistan is extending coverage to more than 100 million vulnerable people.

Saudi Arabia is advancing innovative Islamic financing approaches, while Sudan is using pooled procurement and Zakat funds to expand coverage.

We are also learning from experiences beyond our Region. Indonesia's national health insurance programme demonstrates the scale that is possible when financing reform is treated as a long-term national priority.

These experiences differ in design, but they share one lesson: progress happens when ministries of health and finance, insurance agencies, development partners, and civil society work together around a shared national agenda.

This is why WHO EMRO established the Regional Health Financing Taskforce, which is developing a regional technical paper and a draft resolution on health financing sustainability and financial protection for consideration by the Regional Committee this October.

WHO's role is to help countries move from fragmented reforms to coherent financing strategies grounded in equity, sustainability and national ownership.

The decline in official development assistance is not only creating a financing gap. It is forcing the question: what does sustainable, domestically-owned health financing actually look like?

We should not waste this moment.

If we want health for all, we must finance health differently with greater domestic ownership, stronger financial protection, smarter spending, and sustained political commitment.