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Health System strengthening, especially in the context of achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 (SDG3), is high on the agenda of the global health community. There has been however limited attention to the fact that the effectiveness or even the feasibility of many health system strengthening interventions may depend on the size of the health system to be strengthened. The delivery of some interventions may entail heavy fixed costs or require costly complementary inputs. This may impose greater burden on small countries than on their bigger counterparts and deprive the former from the returns to scale
inherent to these interventions.
In this webinar, building on a forthcoming paper, experts active in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) present the mix of health and non-health conditions encountered by these countries in the development of their health systems. The WHO health system assessment framework is used to review some of the specific challenges. Possible ways forward are presented. Three panelists share approaches adopted in their respective regions. Speakers also argue that committing more attention and resources internationally to SIDS would generate not just tangible gains in health for these countries but also huge learning benefits for the global health community at a low cost.
Introduction
Peter Cowley is the Senior Health Finance and Service Delivery Expert at WHO. Previously, he was Coordinator for Health Policy and Service Design Unit at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) in Manila. He has also worked for the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Barbados, where he worked on cost-effectiveness, public finance and insurance-based issues across the eastern Caribbean region. Prior to that, ha worked at the World Bank. Peter is a Medical Doctor and holds a degree in biology.
Presenters
Stanley Lalta is a Health Economist with over 25 years experience in teaching, research, consulting and direct professional work on health financing and policy making matters in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean. He is currently Research Advisor at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus.
Bruno Meessen holds a PhD in economics. In 2020, he joined WHO HQ as senior health financing adviser, after 20 years in academia and 6 years in humanitarian aid. His main domains of expertise are health financing reforms and health system strengthening. He discovered the reality of SIDS thanks to recent missions to Sao Tome and Principe and Barbados. He is currently working, among others, on health financing and chronic illnesses and hospital financing.
Guillermo Sandoval is an experienced health system policy and evaluation adviser. Currently, he serves as the advisor in health system financing in the PAHO/WHO Caribbean subregional program, overseeing technical cooperation in 27 countries and territories. Additionally, he actively collaborates with regional integration mechanisms such as CARICOM. Guillermo holds a PhD in health outcomes and evaluation and a master's degree in business administration and a degree in industrial engineering.
Chair
Lluis Vinyals Torres is coordinator in health policy and services design at the WHO, Western Pacific Region. He has an extensive experience at different levels of health systems. Lluis worked with different aid actors including multilateral institutions, government agencies and ministries in Mozambique, Angola and The Philippines. His areas of specialties include policy development, strategic planning, social health insurance, operational planning, health financing, public finance and, health financing.
Discussants
Tomas Valdez is currently Health Planning Adviser and UHC Cluster Team Lead at the WHO in Maputo, Mozambique. Prior to that, Tomas held several positions in his country, Cabo Verde, among others: president of the National Public Health Institute, national health director at the Ministry of Health and coordinator of National Task Force for the Millennium Development Goals for Health sector. Tomas is MD and also holds a MPH and a MBA.
Gade Waqa leads the Pacific Research Center for the Prevention of Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (C-POND) at the College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Fiji National University, the WHO Collaboration Center for Obesity Prevention and Management. Gade has 20+ years of experience within the public health sector and an ongoing engagement with the government, health services, researchers, and communities in Fiji. Gade holds a master in Public Health; her Ph.D. focused on food-related policymaking, intending to increase the capacity of Fijian policymakers to implement evidence-based policy.
Carlene Radix currently serves as the Assistant Dean Community Medicine and Global Health at Ross University School of Medicine, Barbados. Prior to this she served as the Head of the Human and Social Division at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission. Carlene also held various positions in Clinical Medicine, Academia, Public Health and Health Administration in several countries. She is a MD and holds a MPH, a Med-Peds Residency, and an Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health Fellowship.
Wrap up
Anne Ancia works since 1994 in international public health, serving populations around the world with various international institutions including 13 years with WHO. She is currently WHO Representative in Mauritius, after 4 years in the same position in Sao Tome and Principe. Anne is a medical doctor with a diploma in tropical medicine, a master's in public health, and a master's in international affairs.
This webinar is the 20th of the HGF series.
Want to discover the previous ones? Visit our page:
