Bangladesh
Bangladesh was able to overcome the pandemic by creating localized solutions – a necessity given the reality of their population density, informal economy, and inter-generational families. Bangladesh used data to identify clusters for transmission, to target different levels of restrictions and safety precautions depending on new cases, recoveries, and deaths. Download the Bangladesh brief.

China
Officials developed a strategy, dubbed the “Four Early’s”, that sought to minimize infection by identifying, addressing, and conducting contact tracing for infections as soon as possible. This strategy was bolstered by a triaged approach for different regions based on the level of risk identified, which allowed policymakers to direct resources more efficiently to where they were most needed. Officials also recognized the importance of access to high quality health services in curbing the pandemic. The priorities that guided China’s response, timeliness, and access, proved to be largely effective. Download the China brief.

Kenya
Kenya’s response prioritized the efficient process of incoming data, collected, and synthesized at both the national and county level, to ensure timeliness, completeness and accuracy. This approach allowed the Kenyan government to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving situation, monitoring human resources, test kits, drugs, and personal protection equipment levels to more effectively direct resources to where they are needed. Download the Kenya brief.

Nigeria
Nigeria’s systems-based response not only helped reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality in the immediate term but has also helped prepare Nigeria to better handle a resurgence of COVID-19—or any other pandemic of similar magnitude. Care was taken to minimize the impact of the pandemic on critical social, economic and health infrastructure systems and speed-up post-pandemic recovery and rehabilitation. Download the Nigeria brief.

Philippines
The Philippines Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) administers the National Health Insurance Program to provide health insurance coverage and ensure accessible and affordable healthcare services for all Filipinos. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, PhilHealth played a pivotal role in financing healthcare services. This brief documents actions taken by PhilHealth and how it has leveraged existing systems to quickly respond and contribute to the pandemic response. Download the Philippines brief.

Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea’s preemptive and transparent public health response was instrumental to slowing the spread of the virus and flattening the curve of new infections. In the aftermath of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015, policy changes that were implemented to boost pandemic preparedness and response provided a crucial foundation for the COVID-19 response and became investments that were quickly leveraged, and supported a faster and more effective response. Download the Korea brief.

These country briefs revealed several lessons about how policymakers and practitioners may bolster pandemic preparedness and response in the future, including the following:

Strategic purchasing for COVID-10
Strategic purchasing is a lever to achieve UHC goals, by using limited resources most efficiently to achieve equitable access to quality health services. Policymakers in all six countries coupled incentives for patients to access care with assurances to providers that they will receive the appropriate reimbursement for services, providing a concrete foundation for health system responsiveness.

Leveraging Primary Healthcare and Community Health Systems
PHC and community health are the first point of entry into formal health systems in many countries. Although many investments for the pandemic focused on “surging hospital capacity” with more intensive care beds and ventilators, and “flattening the curve”, the reality is that many cases remain mild or asymptomatic, and PHC and community health systems remain the backbone to support contact tracing, testing and home-based care.

Governance and coordination across sectors and between levels of government
The pandemic response goes beyond the health sector – all six countries have pandemic national coordination units that bring together all sectors such as immigration, security, finance, transport, trade, education, hospitality including – state and non-state actors – to develop multi-sectoral strategies addressing the multiple facets of community life affected by COVID-19 and enforce their implementation.

Evidence-based strategies
Data is a vital component in helping governments, researchers, and policymakers battle the COVID-19 pandemic. With accurate, timely and complete data, governments can make informed decisions to ensure the safety of the population.

The post Primary Health Care Financing and Payment: Lessons and Best Practices from the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Results for Development.

At Results for Development, Ms. Matus is a program officer on the African Collaborative for Health Financing Solutions (ACS) project, which advances universal health coverage in sub-Saharan African by collaborating with regional and country partners to support countries in navigating their own path to universal health coverage.

Prior to joining R4D, Ms. Matus worked with the Zuellig Family Foundation where she was responsible for conducting qualitative mixed-methods research and supporting the local government of Puerto Princesa City, Philippines, in the creation of health policies to reduce teenage pregnancies, HIV, and STIs among adolescents. She co-authored a policy analysis, “Development and Implementation of Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy in Puerto Princesa City, Philippines: A Qualitative Policy Analysis,” which detailed the barriers encountered among adolescents in Puerto Princesa City, Philippines, in accessing reproductive health and family planning services and provided community-driven policy recommendations for local governments to implement. She presented the research findings at the 2018 International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali.

Prior to working in the Philippines, Ms. Matus was a part of Pathways to Housing DC’s development team, where she oversaw stakeholder management and fundraising initiatives for the organization. Before Pathways, she worked with an NGO in New Delhi, India, where she was responsible for the creation of mental health educational campaigns and expanding donor engagements. She began her career working at The Advisory Board Company as a coordinator and health analyst on their corporate development team.

Ms. Matus holds an MPH in international public health from the University of Sydney and a BS in public health and health care ethics from Saint Louis University. She is a native English speaker and is conversational in French.

The post Katherine Matus appeared first on Results for Development.

Related Resource: Primary Health Care Financing and Payment

Lessons and Best Practices from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Learn More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Results for Development and the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage (JLN) have published a new report, Primary Health Care Financing and Payment: Lessons and Best Practices from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which includes six new case studies, sharing how Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines and Republic of Korea have coordinated their COVID-19 pandemic responses. The case studies, which were developed by the JLN Primary Healthcare (PHC) Financing and Payment Collaborative sub-group, also cover how these countries are financing and paying for essential health services at the primary health care level.

Dr. Subrata Paul, Focal Person, Bangladesh National Health Accounts cell, Health Economics Unit – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Bangladesh, said: “The most fabulous thing about this case studies are you already know what will work and what will not in your country context from other countries experience. Learning about how the countries are implementing their self-invented methods to combat COVID is always helpful. Bangladesh will try to pilot a few case studies in small scale and will share the experience.”

The JLN is a country-driven network of practitioners and policymakers from around the globe who co-develop global knowledge products that help bridge the gap between theory and practice to extend health service and care to people who need it. Results for Development (R4D) has been one of the core partners of the JLN since its inception in 2010, helping to conceptualize, shape and develop the network, which now includes 34 countries. R4D currently serves as a technical facilitator for the JLN Primary Health Care (PHC) Financing and Payment Collaborative sub-group, where we have brought 20 JLN member countries together to learn more about various countries’ COVID-19 responses and specifically the role of PHC and community health systems.

The new report is a product of the sub-group and features the following six case studies:

• Bangladesh: With high population density, a thriving informal economy and many inter-generational families, officials in Bangladesh focused on data to identify clusters for transmission, to target different levels of restrictions and safety precautions.
• China: Officials in China developed a strategy that sought to minimize infection by identifying, addressing, and conducting contact tracing for infections as soon as possible.
• Kenya: Kenya’s response prioritized the efficient collection and synthesis of data at both the national and county level, to ensure timeliness and accuracy. This approach allowed the Kenyan government to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving situation, monitoring human resources, test kits, drugs, and personal protection equipment levels to direct resources where they were needed.
• Nigeria: Nigeria’s systems-based response not only helped reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality in the immediate term but has also helped prepare Nigeria to better handle a resurgence of COVID-19 — or any other pandemic of similar magnitude.
• Philippines: At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Philippines Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) played a pivotal role in financing healthcare services, leveraging existing systems to quickly respond and contribute to the pandemic response.
• Republic of Korea: In the aftermath of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015, the Republic of Korea implemented many policy changes to boost pandemic preparedness and provided a crucial foundation for the COVID-19 response.

Click here to download the full report.

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About Results for Development
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too. For more information, visit our website at: www.r4d.org.

Photo © USAID in Africa

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