Webinar Series on Monitoring Financial Protection in Health: Update on the Revision to SDG3.8.2

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC), including financial risk protection, access to quality essential 
health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines 
for all is officially an agreed target (3.8) for health in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Critical to 
attaining UHC is a formal monitoring mechanism to assess progress. This is done through two separate 
indicators for target 3.8, one focused on its service coverage dimension (SDG indicator 3.8.1) and another 
focused on the lack of financial protection (SDG 3.8.2). Both indicators were revised in 2025 as part of the 
overall SDG monitoring framework revision. This webinar series will focus on the changes to SDG 3.8.2. 
The definition adopted in 2025 is the following: the proportion of the population with positive out-ofpocket household expenditure on health exceeding 40% of household discretionary budget (see in Annex 
II and point C of the Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal 
Indicators, available in English and French). 
This webinar series is a follow-up to an initial multi-day/hybrid training which was conducted with nine 
Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICs) in October 2023. However, given its relevance to PICs more 
broadly, the first webinar will be made available to a larger audience beyond the participants of the initial 
training to explain why the SDG 3.8.2 definition changed and its implications for measurement and 
monitoring.
The webinars build on the complementary strengths of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and 
the Pacific (SIAP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pacific Community (SPC). As the regional 
statistical training arm of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 
(ESCAP), SIAP supports national statistical offices and government institutions in developing the technical 
capacities required to produce, analyse and use high-quality data for SDG monitoring and evidenceinformed policymaking. WHO, as co-custodian of SDG indicator 3.8.2 on financial protection with the 
World Bank, provides global normative guidance, methodologies and technical support to countries for 
monitoring progress on financial protection. The Pacific Data Hub, SPC's regional platform for data 
stewardship and dissemination, works closely with Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICs) to 
strengthen data ecosystems, enhance data accessibility and promote the use of statistics for decisionmaking and sustainable development. Together, these institutions provide a strong foundation for 
supporting countries in the Pacific and broader Asia-Pacific region to improve the measurement, 
interpretation and use of financial protection indicators.