Making Progress on Strategic Health Purchasing in Africa
Strategic purchasing involves using evidence and information about population health needs and health provider performance to make decisions about which health services should have priority for public funding (“what to buy”), which providers will provide these services (“from whom to buy”), and how and how much providers will be paid to deliver those services (“how to buy”). Strategic purchasers also allow funds to be used flexibly by frontline providers, while holding them accountable for service delivery results. Strategic purchasing has been recognized as a critical policy approach to improve how limited resources are used to make progress toward universal health coverage (UHC).
This special issue of Health Systems & Reform, titled Making Progress on Strategic Health Purchasing in Africa, is anchored by a framework co-created by SPARC and Africa-based partners. The Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Tracking Framework helps African countries collect and analyze the information they need to make practical policy changes that can make health purchasing more strategic.
Strategic purchasing can be a political issue because it involves resource allocation, but using a framework to understand health purchasing helps depoliticize the discussion and focus on technical solutions to improve resource allocation, increase transparency, and create appropriate incentives for providers. In this issue, we examine the state of knowledge and practice of strategic purchasing in Africa based on the framework and how implementing strategic purchasing approaches can facilitate progress toward UHC.
Agnes Gatome-Munyua & Cheryl Cashin
Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Isidore Sieleunou, Sory Orokia and Cheryl Cashin
Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Isidore Sieleunou, Edwine Barasa, Freddie Ssengooba, Kabore Issa, Sabine Musange, Osoro Otieno, Suzan Makawia, Christelle Boyi-Hounsou, Eugenia Amporfu, Uchenna Ezenwaka
Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Charlemagne Tapsoba and Cheryl Cashin
Uchenna Ezenwaka, Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Chikezie Nwankwor, Nkechi Olalere, Nneka Orji, Uchenna Ewelike, Benjamin Uzochukwu & Obinna Onwujekwe
Stella Umuhoza Matutina, Sabine F. Musange, Alypio Nyandwi, Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Angeline Mumararungu, Regis Hitimana, Alexis Rulisa & Parfait Uwaliraye
Eugenia Amporfu. Peter Agyei-Baafour, Anthony Edusei, Jacob Novignon, Eric Arthur
Authors: Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho, Aloysius Ssennyonjo, Cheryl Cashin, Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Nkechi Olalere, Richard Ssempala, Chrispus Mayora, Freddie Ssengooba
Authors: Joël Arthur Kiendrébéogo Charlemagne Tapsoba, Yama Kafando, Orokia Sory & S. Pierre Yameogo
Dennis Waithaka, Cheryl Cashin & Edwine Barasa
Authors: Aloysius Ssennyonjo, Otieno Osoro, Freddie Ssengooba, Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho, Chrispus Mayora, Richard Ssempala, Danielle Bloom
Obinna Onwujekwe & Prince Agwu
Evelyn Kabia, Jacob Kazungu, Edwine Barasa
This special issue was led by Results for Development (R4D) as SPARC’s core technical partner, in collaboration with Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et en Démographie in Benin, Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement in Burkina Faso, Research for Development International in Cameroon, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, Health Policy Research Group in Nigeria, University of Rwanda School of Public Health, Ifakara Health Institute and University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda.
Editor: Michael Reich
Guest Editors: Agnes Gatome-Munyua, Cheryl Cashin HSR Journal Team: Eddie Spofford, Rebekah Smith Support Team: Naomi Gaspard
Copyeditor: Ina Chang
Design Team: RRD Design (Rebecca Richards-Diop, Jessica Stone-Weaver)
Video Abstracts: Wynne Greenwood
Communications: David Mitine, Johnattan Garcia, Kelly Toves, Heather Luca
Health Systems & Reform Special Issue Contributors List |
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Author Name | Organization | ||||
Agnes Gatome-Munyua | Results for Development (R4D), Kenya | ||||
Cheryl Cashin | Results for Development (R4D), US | ||||
Isidore Sieleunou | Research for Development International Cameroon | ||||
Sory Orokia | Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement (RESADE), Burkina Faso | ||||
Edwine Barasa | Health Economics Research Unit, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya | ||||
Freddie Ssengooba | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Issa Kaboré | Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement (RESADE), Burkina Faso | ||||
Sabine Musange | University of Rwanda School of Public Health, Rwanda | ||||
Otieno Osoro | University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | ||||
Suzan Makawia | Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania | ||||
Christelle Boyi | Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et en Démographie (CERRHUD), Benin | ||||
Eugenia Amporfu | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana | ||||
Uchenna Ezenwaka | Health Policy and Research Group, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria | ||||
Charlemagne Tapsoba | Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement (RESADE), Burkina Faso | ||||
S. Pierre Yameogo | Secrétariat Technique en charge de la Couverture Sanitaire Universelle (ST/CSU) au Ministère de la Santé du Burkina Faso | ||||
Parfait Uwaliraye | Ministry of Health, Rwanda | ||||
Regis Hitimana | Rwanda Social Security Board, Rwanda | ||||
Danielle Bloom | World Bank, Canada | ||||
Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Aloysius Ssennyonjo | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Richard Ssempala | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Chrispus Mayora | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Joël Arthur Kiendrébéogo | Department of Public Health, University Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Medical Faculty and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement, (RESADE), Burkina Faso | ||||
Yamba Kafando | Recherche pour la Santé et le Développement (RESADE), Burkina Faso | ||||
Chikezie Nwankwor | Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Nigeria | ||||
Nkechi Olalere | Ministry of Health, Nigeria | ||||
Nneka Orji | |||||
Uchenna Ewelike | National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Nigeria | ||||
Benjamin Uzochukwu | Health Policy Research Group, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Nigeria | ||||
Obinna Onwujekwe | Health Policy and Research Group, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria | ||||
Stella Umuhoza Matutina | University of Rwanda School of Public Health, Rwanda | ||||
Alypio Nyandwi | Africa Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), Kenya | ||||
Peter Agyei-Baafour | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana | ||||
Anthony Edusei | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana | ||||
Jacob Novignon | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana | ||||
Eric Arthur | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana | ||||
Dennis Waithaka | Health Economics Research Unit, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya | ||||
Fred Matovu | Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda | ||||
Evelyn Kabia | Health Economics Research Unit, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya | ||||
Jacob Kazungu | Health Economics Research Unit, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya | ||||
Prince Agwu | Health Policy Research Group, University of Nigeria, Nigeria | ||||
Nathaniel Otoo | Results for Development (R4D), Ghana | ||||
George Kimathi | Amref Health Africa, Kenya |
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