Webinar recording: Politics and Health: Navigating the Political Economy of Health Financing Reforms

On 12 August 2025, WHO SEARO [opens new tab] hosted a webinar, ‘Politics and Health: Navigating the Political Economy of Health Financing Reforms’.

The webinar explored the landscape of political economy in health financing reforms, building on experiences from the WHO South-East Asia region (WHO SEARO). Political economy analysis is a structured way of looking at why reforms have or have not progressed. Case studies from Thailand and Nepal highlighted the importance of context. Thailand’s success was driven by a well-organized change team and rapid action post-crisis. In Nepal, reforms were characterized by a fragmented coalition, external funding dependencies and the need for broader social inclusion following political upheaval.

ReBUILD’s work featured in two presentations:

• Political economy analysis of health financing reforms in times of crisis – three case studies from South east Asia – Professor Sophie Witter from Queen Margaret University (starts 11.54)
• Political economy of health financing reforms towards UHC: case of Nepal – Dr Sushil Baral from HERD International (starts 57.43)