Gabon’s National Health Insurance and Social Guarantee Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie et de garantie sociale – CNAMGS) is made up of four funds that cover different categories of members. When the CNAMGS was created, the Gabonese authorities committed to making the system of mandatory health insurance and social guarantee a reality, starting with cover for the most vulnerable population sectors who are not able to directly contribute to funding their own health care.
In particular, the social guarantee fund covers low-income Gabonese people (Gabonais économiquement faible – GEF), i.e. people with Gabonese nationality who are at least 18 years old and who earn less than the guaranteed minimum interprofessional wage (SMIG) of 80,000 CFA francs (XAF). This requires national solidarity. As the system is based on self-declarations, several people have unduly registered themselves as GEF.
It was only with the use of public and private sector funds that it was possible to carry out initial cross-checks to remove people who have falsely registered as GEF. Bearing in mind that a fund will soon be put in place for self-employed workers and voluntary members in artisanal, commercial and liberal professions, cleaning up the GEF records was an important part of optimising the cover.