Health and Safety in Mongolia

The Ministry of Health is the main governing body in policy-making, strategic planning, and evaluation and monitoring of all health programs and systems in Mongolia. The health care system of the country is delegated to each province which comprises of several districts while the capital city Ulaanbaatar has 9 urban local governments. Presently, health services in Mongolia are delivered in urban areas through Family Group Practices (FGPs) that are established by the ADB-financed Health Sector Development Program (HSDP). While in rural areas, health centers and hospitals at the district level deliver primary health care.

Mongolia’s health care previously applied the Semashko model of the Soviet Union but due to the country’s enormous size and very low population density, the said model was not efficient enough to deliver primary health care to every individual. Despite undergoing system transition, the country was able to maintain high public spending on health sector compare to other transition countries. As of 2007, public health expenditure is roughly 5% of the country’s GDP. Although the Mongolia has low per capita income, its public heath indicators remain rather strong since the modulation of the health sector.

In mid-1990, Mongolia launched the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) which aims to collect and manage budget for health spending. Some of Mongolia’s long-term health strategies and policies include the Government’s Economic Growth Support and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EGSPRS), Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and the National Development Strategy 2021 and National Action Plan. The country’s health sector has also received continuous support from various organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Japan International Corporation Cooperation Agency, (JICA), Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services, and the United Nations.