Stella Matutina UMUHOZA, Sabine F. MUSANGE, Alypio NYANDWI and Parfait UWALIRAYE Background Rwanda’s health sector has made tremendous strides in improving the population’s health status over the last two decades, including the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The maternal mortality rate decreased from 750 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 203 […]
Towards Sustainability Of The Community-Based Health Insurance In Rwanda: Successes, Challenges, And Opportunities
Rwanda has made impressive gains in health over the last two decades. Life expectancy at birth has increased from 49 years in 2000 to 69.06 years in 2020 (National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda et al., 2020). The primary health care utilization rate increased from 0.81 visits per inhabitant in 2009 to 1.6 visits per […]
Towards The Institutionalization Of Strategic Health Purchasing In Sub-Saharan African: Progress, Lessons Learnt And Experiences From Rwanda
Background Health financing is at the heart and centre of the health system reforms in Rwanda. To attain the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), a health financing system undertakes a series of functions — resource mobilization, pooling and purchasing — to provide health services. Strategic health purchasing emerged as an essential pillar in Rwanda’s […]
COVID-19 Response And Vaccination Rollout In Rwanda: A Whole Of Government Approach
Introduction Rwanda is an East African country of about 12 million people, with 83% living in rural areas. Rwanda’s whole-of-Government approach was instrumental in the COVID-19 pandemic response and rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination plan across the country. Rwanda’s Ministry of Health reported the country’s first case of COVID-19on 14th March 2020. Despite the Government […]
COVID-19 Response in Benin: Lessons Learnt From Control Measures Taken
Background From cholera to the Black Death to the Spanish Flu, these pandemics have shaken entire continents on more than one occasion[1]. Like these epidemics, Coronavirus burst onto the scene in 2019, killing more than 3.9 million people worldwide as of June 2021 (OurWorldInData.org)[2], straining government finances, the health system ultimately establishing the health system […]
Applying Strategic Health Purchasing Principles in COVID-19 Response: Benin Case Study
Background Strategic purchasing means “active, evidence-based decisions in defining the service mix and volume and selecting the provider-mix to maximize societal objectives” [1]. Improving purchasing is central to improving health system performance and making progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). The COVID-19 pandemic response is a timely opportunity to assess countries’ use of strategic health […]
The Fight Against COVID-19 In Cameroon: An Analysis Of Strategic Purchasing Efforts In Response To The Pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2021. Since then, the total number of COVID-19 cases has continued to increase at an alarming rate in several countries worldwide. After confirmation of the first cases, Cameroon launched the Incident Management System (IMS). […]
Reflections on the Accreditation Process in Uganda for Purchasing Health Services Under Result-Based Financing (RBF)
Results/Performance-based financing (RBF/PBF) was introduced in Uganda to support the improvement of maternal and child health services and the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC). RBF is a purchasing mechanism in which health providers are partially funded based on their performance of agreed outputs or outcomes[1]. Evidence suggests that RBF has the potential to make […]
A Visit for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Nigeria on a Study Tour of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in Kenya
Strategic Purchasing African Resource Centre (SPARC) hosted a delegation of general managers from Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for a three-day study tour to share experience on how the Kenyan Government is working towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC), with lessons from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) reforms, and explore future partnerships. The […]
The Mismanagement of the COVID-19 Funds in Cameroon and the Necessity for Reforms Towards More Transparency and Accountability
Transparency and accountability in the management of public resources are the foundation of good governance. Ensuring that public funds are well managed has always been a central concern of citizens. For over three decades, embezzlement scandals have been recurrent in Cameroon. The most recent is related to the management of the COVID-19 funds nicknamed “Covidgate” […]