Projects

Strategic Purchasing for Primary Health Care (SP4PHC) in Uganda

ThinkWell, 2021–

Serving as technical advisor supporting government efforts (1) to embed performance-based financing principles in the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system, and (2) to purchase priority reproductive, maternal, and child health services from private providers.

Click here to learn more about ThinkWell’s initiative on Strategic Purchasing for Primary Health Care in Uganda, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Strategic purchasing for service quality

ThinkWell, 2020–

Co-leading initiative to explore opportunities for health purchasers to promote quality assurance and quality improvement in service delivery, including first-authoring a review and framework paper on the links between health financing and quality and developing a tool to landscape quality-related systems and practices in health systems, which is being piloted in Burkina Faso, Kenya, the Philippines, and Uganda (findings expected in the second half of 2022).

Decentralization, health financing, and public financial management

ThinkWell, 2020–22

Co-led a WHO-ThinkWell initiative to better understand health financing and budget processes in decentralized settings, including first-authored an eight-country study on the implications of decentralization and PFM reforms for health financing; co-authored a seven-country study on health financing at devolved levels of government; authored a case study on Nigeria; and co-authored a case study on Uganda.

The full body of work includes the two multi-country studies and seven case studies, all of which are available here.

Costing WASH in health care facilities

World Health Organization, 2020–22

Developed a cost model for achieving basic standards in all health facilities for water, sanitation, hygiene, and waste management services. The model estimates total capital and recurrent costs required to reach the global targets for WASH in health care facilities by 2030 in the 46 UN-designated Least Developed Countries. Findings informed the 2020 global report on WASH in health care facilities by WHO and UNICEF.

Full results and methods were published The Lancet Global Health and can be accessed here.

Flagship Course on Health System Reform and Sustainable Financing

World Bank, 2020–21

Created e-learning modules on macro and program-specific health financing transitions as part of cirriculum expansion for the World Bank Flagship Course.

Ghana’s GFF Investment Case

Global Financing Facility, 2020

Provided health policy and financing inputs and backstopping for the development of the Prioritized Operational Plan and Costing for Ghana’s UHC Roadmap, which will steer subsequent investment and technical assistance by the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents (GFF), the World Bank, and others.

Landscaping tools for public-private engagement in mixed health systems

Results for Development, 2020

Reviewed grey literature guidance and tools designed to promote public-private engagement for strengthening health systems and improving maternal and newborn health. Findings are informing the development of toolkit for enhanced collaboration among public and private actors seeking to strengthen health systems and expand effective coverage of essential primary health care services.

Click here for a summary of main findings from the review and here to learn more about R4D’s Strengthening Mixed Health Systems project, supported by Merck for Mothers.

Sustaining control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases

Act to End NTDs | East program, 2018–2020

Served as health financing lead for USAID-funded initiative supporting national NTD programs in 13 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Contributed to a planning guide and tool to assess and promote sustainable interventions to control and eliminate the five NTDs amenable to preventive and presumptive chemotherapy: lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminths.

Learn more about USAID’s Act to End NTDs | East program here.

Bolstering health system efficiency and HIV sustainability in Namibia

African Collaborate for Health Financing Solutions (ACS), 2019

Contributed to design and stakeholder consultations for efforts to (1) improve the equity and efficiency of health budget allocations across geographies and levels of care, and (2) determine the feasibility and cost savings of linking private sector patients to publicly procured antiretrovirals and other HIV commodities.

Learn more about USAID’s ACS project in Namibia here.

Advocating for increased domestic financing for HIV in Vietnam

Health Finance & Governance Project (HFG), 2017–2018

Supported the Ministry of Health and Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control to (1) review global evidence on the health and economic benefits of HIV prevention, (2) assess the government’s options for domestically financing HIV prevention interventions, and (3) devise a subsidy scheme to minimize out-of-pocket expenses for patients whose antiretroviral therapy transitioned from donor to social health insurance financing.

Read the evidence review here.

Strategic health purchasing and priority setting in Vietnam

Health Finance & Governance Project (HFG), 2016–2017

Advised the Ministry of Health on general principles for reforming the Social Health Insurance Scheme’s provider payment methods, the feasibility and advisability of including HIV treatment in a capitated package of primary health care services, and approaches for defining the Basic Health Services Package.

Learn more about USAID’s HFG project in Vietnam here.

Supporting national health insurance design in South Africa

Health Finance & Governance Project (HFG), 2015–2018

Analyzed options for a transitional NHI fund, advised and synthesized findings for a joint Department of Health–National Treasury task team on primary health care costing, and facilitated stakeholder consultations regarding a novel contracting model for private delivery of primary health care services.

Learn more about USAID’s HFG project in South Africa here.

Integrating and sustaining South Africa’s national HIV response

Health Finance & Governance Project (HFG), 2015–2018
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, 2016–2017
UNAIDS, 2015–2016

Collaborated with the Department of Health and National Treasury to (1) compare scenarios for more integrated financing of HIV and other primary health care services, (2) refine budget bids for scaling up HIV and TB interventions, and (3) analyze HIV and TB expenditure by the Government of South Africa, United States Government, and the Global Fund.

Read about HIV financing integration here and HIV and TB expenditure analysis here.

Global Fund transition planning in Kenya

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, 2017

Collaborated the Ministry of Health, National Treasury, Council of Governors, and National AIDS Control Council to take stock of Kenya’s health financing landscape and identify opportunities and challenges for sustaining effective coverage of HIV, TB, and malaria services in the long run, mindful of macro-fiscal and institutional constraints. 

Read the assessment findings here.

Improving assessment of health financing system performance

World Bank, 2015

Conducted background research and helped to draft the core module for a new health system financing assessment protocol, which has subsequently been applied in numerous World Bank client countries.

Strategizing for Vision Center scale-up in Tamil Nadu, India

Aravind Eye Care System, 2014–2015 (MPH practicum)

Partnered with senior management to (1) develop a strategic roadmap for the scale-up of community eye health centers to serve 10 million people by 2020, (2) identify 11 focus areas for management effort, and (3) developed detailed short- and long-term recommendations under the themes of stakeholder engagement and change management, workforce and training, and technology solutions for telemedicine and inventory management.

Learn more about Aravind’s network of vision centers here.

Advocating for national health insurance coverage of family planning in Ghana

Health Policy Project (HPP), 2014–2015

Reviewed global evidence on insurance effects for utilization of modern contraceptives and, using ImpactNow, modeled the health and economic benefits of national health insurance coverage for family planning services in Ghana.

Read the policy brief here and learn more about USAID’s Health Policy Project here.