The Netherlands Platform for Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research and the Platform for Health Insurance for the Poor invited their members and some other interested professionals to participate in a joint meeting. The purpose for the meeting was threefold: (1) To be well-informed of the goals, activities and ambitions of both Platforms, (2) to discuss recent initiatives of common interest related to universal coverage, and (3) to examine the Dutch added value and possible areas for joint collaboration.
10.30 Opening - by Prof. Dr. Paul van der Maas. Chair of the Netherlands Platform for Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research
Prof. Van der Maas opens the meeting and welcomes everyone.
10.30 – 10.45 Introduction Netherlands Platform for Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research - by Prof. Dr. Paul van der Maas
Prof. Van der Maas, chairman of the platform introduces the platform by setting out its aims, tasks and main activities. The platform was set up on the 17th October 2007 as a result of the Dutch Schokland Agreement 'Knowledge for Health' dated 30 June 2007 with the purpose to better link policy, practice and research to support strengthening of health systems globally. The platform consists of 20 members ranging from academic and non-academic research institutes, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health, NGO’s and development organizations to WOTRO Science for Global Development. For more information on the platform’s activities click here for the presentation, or visit the website.
10.45 – 11.00 Introduction Platform for Health Insurance for the Poor – by Ankie van den Broek. Senior Advisor Health Systems, Royal Tropical Institute (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, KIT) and Chair of the Platform for Health Insurance for the Poor
Before starting the presentation Ankie van den Broek announces that unfortunately Bob Kallen passed away. Bob Kallen was a former student of Economics at the University of Amsterdam who wrote his thesis on the role of micro finance institutes in health insurance schemes in low-income countries. During the past two years he frequently visited platform meetings and wrote an article for the platform’s newsletter.
The HIP platform, launched in January 2007, brings together (Dutch) organizations with expertise in the field of healthcare and health insurance in developing countries. It aims to share information and knowledge, stimulate cooperation between the organizations working in this field, contribute to research for innovation and contribute to policy development in the Netherlands in respect to health insurance in low- and middle-income countries. HIP has 14 ‘core members’ and more than 40 individual members including people working for NGO’s, academic and non-academic research institutes, consultancies, (health)insurers and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Besides organizing platform meetings and workshops to share knowledge and information, three members of the platform are currently involved in a study to document the evidence-base on the performance of health insurance schemes in low- and middle- income countries with the aim to link this to policies of Dutch organizations. For more information click here for the presentation or visit the website.
11.00 – 11.45 The SHIELD Study – by Filip Meheus. Health Economist, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp (Belgium)
SHIELD (Strategies for Health Insurance and Equity in Less Developed Countries) is a 3 year, EU funded, project which critically analyses alternative approaches to health insurance in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa as a mechanism for addressing health system equity challenges and in turn contributing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
During the meeting Meheus presents the preliminary results from work packages 1 (a descriptive evaluation of the existing health systems in the three countries), 2 (analysis of the financing incidence that gives insight into share of the financial burden by each socio-economic group), and 3 (an analysis of the benefit incidence to reveal the distribution of health care benefits across socio-economic groups). The clear and concise presentation gives a good overview and insight in health financing in the three countries. It appears that the financing incidence and benefit incidence analyses give interesting insights into the country’s health system progressivity and equity. Click here for the presentation with figures and data. Here you can find the link to some articles following from work package 1.
At the moment, the team is still working on the data collection and analysis within work packages 4 (investigation of the stakeholders’ views and the acceptability of a health insurance design) and 5 (overall analysis of the work packages aiming to identify a set of insurance design options that achieve an appropriate balance between stakeholder acceptability on the one hand and achievement of equity objectives on the other).
11.45 – 12.30 Learning Workshop on “Moving Toward Universal Health Coverage” – by Stefan Nachuk. Associate Director, Rockefeller Foundation
As David de Ferranti, Director of Results for Development Institute, was unable to attend the meeting Stefan Nachuk kindly took over the presentation on the Learning Workshop on ‘Moving Toward Universal Health Coverage’.
At the moment, many low- and middle-income countries are investigating and implementing prepayment health financing options, like health insurance, to increase the access to health care services for especially the poor and the vulnerable. It appears that there is a growing demand for information and knowledge sharing by countries pursuing similar health financing reforms. Cross-learning activities are specifically desired by implementing practitioners who feel they can work with peer countries to identify strategies and tactics to overcome the many challenges to successful implementation. The Learning Workshop that was organized on 3-5 February in Delhi, India, is a first step toward the development of an ongoing, multi-country cross-learning Joint Learning Platform. The workshop brought together practitioners from six countries - Ghana, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - to share learning around the successes and the challenges of implementing prepayment health financing reforms to expand health coverage.
Workshop evaluation results were strong, indicating future interest in many topics and strong interest in additional joint learning activities. The potential ongoing activities of the Joint Learning Network include five distinct functions: bilateral site visits and study tours, multilateral joint learning workshops, website development, demand-driven research and analysis and distribution of pre-selected case studies and other research.
Please visit the website www.jointlearningworkshop.org to read more on the direct results and feedback of the workshop and learn what activities are underway around the world to build on the momentum created at the Joint Learning Workshop.
12.30 – 12.40 Added value and possible areas for collaboration – by Serge Heijnen. Executive Secretary, Netherlands Platform for Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research
Serge Heijnen closes the Joint Platform Meeting with a short reflection on the added value and possible areas for collaboration of the two platforms.
In the past many reforms and innovations in health have led to a commercialization and fragmentation of health systems worldwide. Heijnen identifies a need for a systems approach as a step towards universal health coverage, which implies taking into consideration the context and connections between the parts, actors and processes of the system. Also, ‘systems thinking’ requires a deliberate and continuous approach to anticipate rather than to react, and to identify upstream points of leverage - like governance and information systems. Networks and platforms like those presented today allow meaningful discussions on a technical issue of health financing while validating, respecting and considering the broader health system and context.
With respect to the issue of extending health coverage, Heijnen argues that the added value of the Dutch experience to countries that are exploring options to extend coverage lies particularly in gradually strengthening the public stewardship role and information systems in health within a context of 1) dominant private care provision and financing – both for profit and not-for-profit and 2) a historically very weak role of the government in the health sector.
Click here to view the whole presentation by Serge Heijnen.