[Community financing for health care in Africa: mutual health insurance].

Health care in sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly financed by direct payments from the population. Mutual health insurance plans are developing to ensure better risk sharing. However mutual health insurance cannot fully resolve all equity issues. The low resources available for contribution and the limited availability of care services especially in the public sector cannot guarantee the quality of care necessary for the development of mutual health insurance. National governments must not forget their responsibility especially for defining and ensuring basic services that must be accessible to all. Will mutual health insurance plans be a stepping-stone to universal health care coverage and can these plans be successfully implemented in the context of an informal economy?