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The most effective way to finance universal health coverage (UHC) is through compulsory prepaid funds that flow through the government budget. Public funds—including on-budget donor resources—allow for pooling and allocation of resources to providers in a way that aligns with population health needs. This is particularly important for low-income settings with fiscal constraints. While much attention is paid to innovative sources of additional financing for UHC and to implementing strategic purchasing approaches, the government budget will continue to be the main source of health financing in most countries—and the most stable mechanism for channeling additional funds. The government budget should therefore be front and center on the strategic purchasing agenda. This commentary uses lessons from Tanzania and Uganda to demonstrate that more can be done to use the government budget as a vehicle for making health purchasing more strategic, across all phases of the budget cycle, and for making greater progress toward UHC. Actions need to be accompanied by measures to address bottlenecks in the public financial management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Photo opportunities enable tight scripting and image control while catering to the media's need for visual content. This research traces how, since 1955, Canadian finance ministers and the media have exhibited a uniquely Canadian interest in the minister's budget day shoes. Analysis: A review of newspaper coverage about the federal budget indicates that news stories contributed to the myth of parliamentary tradition that evolved into packaged photo ops. Interviews with journalists and a finance minister's staff, among others, provide insights about photo-op management in a permanent campaigning environment. Conclusion and implications: The case study adds to knowledge about strategic communication in government and the evolution of media-state relations in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the visibility of unpaid care work in Scotland by examining the (non-)development of discourse on unpaid care work in economic policy documents. Drawing on the problem approach to policy analysis, the article engages with the Equality Budget Statements (EBS) as policy documents that not only inform the government’s spending plans but are foremost statements of values and norms pursued by the government. This critical reading reveals that certain discourses give different meanings to women’s lives through the political significance of what remains unproblematized as part of the ensuing care discourse in Scotland. The developing discourse on economic policy and equality suggests that equality in Scotland is presupposed on labour market participation. This shrinks discourse on unpaid care work; the problem of unpaid care work is silenced, while the problem of women’s access to employment is redefined to mean a problem of difference and costly childcare only. The way certain issues have or have not appeared in governmental documents is explanatory of the importance and relevance of unpaid care work to the political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]