The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage in Zambia

Abstract

Zambia, together with over 133 other members of the World Health Organization (WHO), became a signatory to the historic Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978, which was a WHO blueprint that enabled Primary Health Care (PHC) to become the official health policy for all member countries at the International Conference on PHC which was held in Alma-Ata, USSR, on 6-12 September 1978 [1]. PHC is defined as the essential health care made accessible universally to all families and individuals in a community in ways that are acceptable to them. It involves their full participation and is done at a cost that the community and country can afford [2]. PHC addresses the main health problems faced in communities by providing a wide range of preventive, curative, promotive, and rehabilitative services to the members.