Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Int J Health Plann Manage. 2021 Mar;36(2):267-272. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3082. Epub 2020 Sep 29.
Universal health coverage (UHC) is one of the strategies that health decision- and policy-makers worldwide are implementing to guarantee a good health status to everyone. Living in slums is characterized by several issues, including homelessness and malnutrition, environmental challenges, lack of sanitation and access to safe, healthy drinking water, waste disposal problems, widespread social disruptions, job insecurity, feelings of dissatisfaction and inadequacy. In Iran, the 'Health Transformation Plan' (HTP), despite its weaknesses, has had good effects on the health level of people living in slums, ensuring insurance coverage and reducing many economic, social and cultural problems, with a dramatic decline in out-of-pocket expenditures. Good governmental financial support and an adequate revision of the initial packages of health services and provisions have resulted in a higher access rate to healthcare. The HTP has been, indeed, a major step towards reaching UHC in Iran. If policy- and decision-makers can further improve the present situation and provide more and better-quality services to these people, it can be expected that health indicators in suburbs will be significantly improved. Researchers should monitor the impact of HTP and examine its effects on health indicators, specifically among particularly vulnerable groups such as children, women and the elderly.
全民健康覆盖（UHC）是全球卫生决策和政策制定者正在实施的策略之一，旨在确保每个人的健康状况良好。居住在贫民窟的人面临着许多问题，包括无家可归和营养不良、环境挑战、缺乏卫生设施和安全健康饮用水的获取、废物处理问题、广泛的社会混乱、工作不稳定、不满和不足的感觉。在伊朗，尽管“健康转型计划”（HTP）存在弱点，但它对居住在贫民窟的人的健康水平产生了良好的影响，确保了保险覆盖范围，并减少了许多经济、社会和文化问题，自付支出大幅下降。政府的财政支持良好，以及对初始卫生服务和规定一揽子计划的充分修订，使得更多人能够获得医疗保健。HTP 确实是伊朗实现全民健康覆盖的重要一步。如果政策制定者和决策者能够进一步改善现状，并为这些人提供更多和更好质量的服务，可以预期郊区的健康指标将得到显著改善。研究人员应监测 HTP 的影响，并研究其对健康指标的影响，特别是在儿童、妇女和老年人等特别脆弱群体中。
