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Issues For Consideration In The Scale-Up Of The Inclusion Of Family Planning In The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah
Issues For Consideration In The Scale-Up Of The Inclusion Of Family Planning In The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah
Reproductive Health
Ghana is working toward achieving universal health coverage (UHC). This is driven, in part, by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 3—Good Health and Well-Being, which seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Achieving this feat will improve equity of access as people, especially the poor can access quality health services without financial hardships. Ensuring equitable access to family planning (FP) is essential to securing the well-being of women and supporting the health and development of communities. One pathway to ensuring equity is the inclusion of FP in affordable insurance. While the inclusion …
Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana: A Health Facility Assessment, Population Council, Ministry Of Health, Ghana Health Service, National Health Insurance Authority, Marie Stopes International Ghana
Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana: A Health Facility Assessment, Population Council, Ministry Of Health, Ghana Health Service, National Health Insurance Authority, Marie Stopes International Ghana
Reproductive Health
In Ghana, National Health Insurance Act 852 of 2012 ensures that health-care benefits include family planning (FP) services, however people continue to pay for FP services because the policy is yet to be implemented in practice. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the National Health Insurance Authority in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, Marie Stopes International-Ghana and the Population Council implemented a pilot project to remove FP service out-of-pocket costs. All modern clinical FP methods were added to national health insurance and expensed by health facilities through the national health insurance claims process. The intervention significantly increased …
Evaluating The Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah
Evaluating The Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah
Reproductive Health
Contraceptive use in Ghana has remained low despite annual increases since 2012. Having a high unmet need for family planning (FP) suggests that there may be barriers to access and uptake. Over time, several policies, including Ghana’s Costed Implementation Plan from 2015–20, have suggested FP initiatives to improve contraceptive use yet they have not been entirely implemented. Further, although FP was included in the health insurance act passed in 2003, amended in 2008, and revised in 2012, which indicated that health-care benefits include FP, people continue to pay out of pocket for services at National Health Insurance Authority facilities because …
Modeling The Impact Of Inclusion Of Family Planning Services In Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme, Justin Archer, Gillian Eva, Augustine Ankomah, Saumya Ramarao, Kamil Fuseini, Anne Coolen, Stephen Duku, Benjamin Bellows
Modeling The Impact Of Inclusion Of Family Planning Services In Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme, Justin Archer, Gillian Eva, Augustine Ankomah, Saumya Ramarao, Kamil Fuseini, Anne Coolen, Stephen Duku, Benjamin Bellows
Reproductive Health
While access to and uptake of modern family planning (FP) in Ghana has steadily risen over the last decade, the modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) among all women reached only 22% in 2019 with 30% of women still reporting unmet need. To increase FP uptake via mitigation of cost barriers among women with unmet need, the Government of Ghana is seeking to integrate claims-based FP services into the National Health Insurance Scheme benefits package. The impact of these activities has the potential to be significant with the proportion of women accessing modern FP shifting dramatically to public facilities over the …
Collaboration With The University Of Calabar For Human Resources For Health Management Training For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Collaboration With The University Of Calabar For Human Resources For Health Management Training For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Reproductive Health
A pool of knowledgeable staff is required within middle and senior management for long-term human resources for health (HRH) planning and effective management at all levels of the health system—federal, state, and local. This brief reports on the training by the Population Council, in partnership with the World Health Organization in Nigeria, of 105 key personnel on HRH planning, management, policy dialogue, advocacy, and resourcing for the HRH project “Enhancing the Ability of Frontline Health Workers to Improve Health in Nigeria.” Critical HRH-related capacities were built among key Nigerian health system personnel and managers, most significantly in the states of …
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse In Kenya, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse In Kenya, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
Financing is a major challenge and concern for the future of family planning (FP) programs. As countries commit to increasing access to and quality of FP services and to universal health care (UHC), it is crucial that UHC schemes include FP and other reproductive health services. This brief aims to: 1) document trends in UHC and health financing, drawing out implications for policymakers and programmers; and 2) identify opportunities for the FP community of practice to advocate for the inclusion of quality FP services within UHC and health financing discussions. With this brief, we aim to highlight experiences in Kenya, …
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
Financing is a major challenge and concern for the future of family planning (FP) programs. As countries commit to increasing access to and quality of FP services and to universal health care (UHC), it is crucial that UHC schemes include FP and other reproductive health services. While the importance of financing is recognized in relation to quality, the “how” of financing FP within the context of UHC is not well understood. This brief targets the “bridge” constituency that is coalescing between the health financing and FP communities of practice around a shared interest in making access to health services universal. …
Adolescent Health: Priorities And Opportunities For Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (Rksk) In Uttar Pradesh [Hindi], Sapna Desai
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Government of India in 2014 signaled its commitment to adolescent health through introduction of a national strategy, Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK). Targeting adolescents aged 10–14 and 15–19, the program aims to ensure universal coverage of health information and services for all adolescents—those in and out of school, married or unmarried, and in vulnerable groups. Envisaged as a paradigm shift to address adolescent health beyond sexual and reproductive health, RKSK spans six domains: nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, injuries and violence including gender-based violence, substance misuse, and non-communicable diseases. This policy brief presents evidence on adolescent health …
Adolescent Health: Priorities And Opportunities For Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (Rksk) In Uttar Pradesh, Sapna Desai
Adolescent Health: Priorities And Opportunities For Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (Rksk) In Uttar Pradesh, Sapna Desai
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Government of India in 2014 signaled its commitment to adolescent health through introduction of a national strategy, Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK). Targeting adolescents aged 10–14 and 15–19, the program aims to ensure universal coverage of health information and services for all adolescents—those in and out of school, married or unmarried, and in vulnerable groups. Envisaged as a paradigm shift to address adolescent health beyond sexual and reproductive health, RKSK spans six domains: nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, injuries and violence including gender-based violence, substance misuse, and non-communicable diseases. This policy brief presents evidence on adolescent health …
Strengthening School Health Programming In Nairobi City County, Joyce Mumah
Strengthening School Health Programming In Nairobi City County, Joyce Mumah
Reproductive Health
No abstract provided.
Increasing Access To Family Planning In Ghana Through Policy Change: Task-Sharing To Enable Auxiliary Nurses To Provide Contraceptive Implant Services, Population Council
Increasing Access To Family Planning In Ghana Through Policy Change: Task-Sharing To Enable Auxiliary Nurses To Provide Contraceptive Implant Services, Population Council
Reproductive Health
Ghana has made significant progress toward reducing the maternal mortality ratio but the rate is still unacceptably high. Up to 26 percent of married Ghanaian women have unmet need for family planning and one in four currently married women is using a modern contraceptive method. Satisfying unmet need for family planning could cut the number of maternal deaths by almost a third. One factor contributing to low usage of modern methods is shortage of trained staff, particularly those skilled in providing long-acting reversible and permanent methods. Until recently, implant services were provided primarily by Ghana Health Service (GHS) trained midwives, …
Infographic: Vouchers Are Transforming Reproductive Health Access Worldwide, Population Council
Infographic: Vouchers Are Transforming Reproductive Health Access Worldwide, Population Council
Reproductive Health
No abstract provided.
Incentivizing Providers To Improve Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh: Pay-For-Performance Model Refinement And Advocacy (P4p Mra) Final Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Riad Mahmud, Azizul Alim, Ismat Ara Hena, Farhana Akter, Anup Kumar Dey
Incentivizing Providers To Improve Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh: Pay-For-Performance Model Refinement And Advocacy (P4p Mra) Final Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Riad Mahmud, Azizul Alim, Ismat Ara Hena, Farhana Akter, Anup Kumar Dey
Reproductive Health
An operations research project by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh tested the feasibility of a pay-for-performance (P4P) approach, which offered financial incentives to reward service providers for meeting and exceeding specified performance targets for maternal, newborn, and child health services. In response to the encouraging findings, the DGHS implemented a follow-up project, with technical assistance from Population Council and UNICEF, to utilize the experiences and findings of the P4P OR project. Despite it short duration, implementation of the revised P4P scheme induced improvements in service volume and …
Assessment Of Management Information System [Mis] Of National Program For Family Planning And Primary Health Care [Lhw Program], Arshad Mahmood, Syeda Saman Naz
Assessment Of Management Information System [Mis] Of National Program For Family Planning And Primary Health Care [Lhw Program], Arshad Mahmood, Syeda Saman Naz
Reproductive Health
This assessment by the Population Council is based on a random sample of 154 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) from three provinces of Pakistan. The aim is to strengthen the routine LHW-MIS (management information system) in the districts so that it can contribute to the improvement of the district health system by providing reliable evidence. Further, based on the findings of the current assessment, the districts managers/decisionmakers should be able to continuously improve the LHW-MIS through applying a problem-solving approach. The report details recommendations for program management, including: 1) providing all necessary MIS tools to each LHW; 2) providing basic equipment …
Population Level Impact Of Vouchers On Access In Uganda, Benjamin Bellows, Francis Obare, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Population Level Impact Of Vouchers On Access In Uganda, Benjamin Bellows, Francis Obare, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Reproductive Health
No abstract provided.
Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council
Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This is a report on a technical advisory meeting that brought together 45 participants from the five country programs being evaluated through the Reproductive Health Voucher and Accreditation (V&A) project, which is implemented by the Population Council with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This group met for the first time as a newly emerging “voucher community” to learn from the successes and challenges faced in this early growth phase of emerging V&A programs that deliver maternal and reproductive health services. In addition to standardizing the collection of performance and financing metrics, who would use such data …
Innovative Financing Through Pay-For-Performance For Providers To Improve Quality Of Care In Bangladesh: Transforming Research Into Action, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, Ismat Ara Hena
Innovative Financing Through Pay-For-Performance For Providers To Improve Quality Of Care In Bangladesh: Transforming Research Into Action, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, Ismat Ara Hena
Reproductive Health
To improve access to and use of facility-based obstetric and newborn care, the Government of Bangladesh is implementing two innovative performance-based financing programs, namely demand-side financing (DSF) and pay-for-performance (P4P). With the purpose of identifying the lessons learned, limitations of the P4P and DSF models, and scopes for cross learning, a two-day workshop was organized in Dhaka. This workshop report, prepared by the Population Council, resulted in several recommendations to modify DSF and P4P schemes. In Bangladesh, the need for continuing performance-based financing programs to meet MDGs and other health indicators is beyond argument, but it is urgently required to …
Using Evidence To Improve Primary Health Care In Thai Nguyen Province, Population Council
Using Evidence To Improve Primary Health Care In Thai Nguyen Province, Population Council
Reproductive Health
In partnership with a number of local stakeholders, the Population Council Viet Nam is working to improve the evidence base available to health authorities and to use that evidence to improve health in Thai Nguyen Province. Building on cooperation between the Population Council and the Thai Nguyen Health Department, the project detailed in this report has three main elements: 1) developing a computerized information system to generate regular reports; 2) supporting research in the province to better understand health problems, health-seeking behavior, and health services; and 3) increasing the capability of managers and providers to better use the evidence generated. …
Hiv Integrated Biological And Behavioural Surveillance Survey (Ibbss) 2010, Federal Ministry Of Health
Hiv Integrated Biological And Behavioural Surveillance Survey (Ibbss) 2010, Federal Ministry Of Health
HIV and AIDS
This report by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health highlights the findings of an integrated biological and behavioral surveillance survey (IBBSS) in Nigeria among groups whose behaviors or occupations often place them at higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The main objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge and beliefs of high-risk groups about STI and HIV, determine the prevalence of HIV infection among these groups, and obtain data that will permit identification of trends over time. Since the 2007 IBBSS survey report, a considerable number of interventions have commenced among the study groups.
Guidelines For Pilot Study On Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Directorate General Of Health Services (Dghs), Population Council, Unicef
Guidelines For Pilot Study On Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Directorate General Of Health Services (Dghs), Population Council, Unicef
Reproductive Health
The Population Council launched a pilot study to test two Pay-for-Performance (P4P) strategies to improve MNCH services in Bangladesh. This document presents guidelines for offering incentives to providers, distributing coupons, and forming P4P and/or Coupon Committees and Quality Assurance Groups. The guidelines were developed over the course of five policy-level and consensus-building workshops with national and local-level program managers and service providers, organized under the leadership of the DGHS, in consideration of the local context and sustainability in case of nationwide replication in the country. These guidelines will come into effect upon receiving approval from the DGHS, Ministry of Health …