Welcome to the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus (HP+) project website.
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A significant policy win was achieved as HP+ Madagascar supported the development of the Public Financial Protection Law, which is intended to create a more favorable legal environment in support of universal health coverage. At a meeting with parliamentarians that HP+ helped organize in May 2021—a rare collaboration between the Ministry of Health and parliamentarians—the parliamentarians accepted the importance of the law and proposed to be part of the process of carrying it forward to advance equitable healthcare access. The president of the National Assembly’s Public Health Commission was particularly engaged and volunteered to personally carry forward the Public Financial Protection Law. The law includes the creation of a new National Health Solidarity Fund, which will be financed through direct transfers from the national budget, private donations, and external funding and will cover contributions for poor and vulnerable populations. Now that the parliament has bought in, they are developing both the law and the national strategy for health financing alongside partners such as the Ministry of Finance and Budget and Ministry of Decentralization. Next steps include establishing a coordination mechanism between the National Assembly and the Ministry of Health and conducting further advocacy in favor of increasing the state budget for the health sector.
Guatemala’s government leadership extolled the country’s progress and ongoing commitment to decentralization at the first-ever congressional session on decentralization and at a related meeting held days apart in early October. With acknowledgement of the USAID-funded Health and Education Policy Plus (HEP+) for its support of the government’s efforts, outgoing President Jimmy Morales and incoming political leaders both reiterated their commitment to decentralization of primary health care and education to the municipal level and the expected positive impact on health, education, and economic development of Guatemalans at all levels of society. Guatemala’s commitment to decentralizing primary health service delivery and education is enshrined in legal and regulatory statutes but implementation had lagged for several years. The congressional gathering comes at a time of political transition and was remarkable for the commitment to continue the effort by both outgoing and incoming leaders. The progress in implementing the country’s decentralization policy is at a pivotal time and comes after many years of effort by USAID and HEP+ to develop guidelines for implementation; support for civil society networks that demand accountability and monitor implementation; and for the development of an information system that supports decentralization. The SIPRODES information system, developed with support from HEP+, is an important data visualization tool that tracks the capacity and readiness of each municipality to take on newly devolved responsibilities; identifies and highlights areas for capacity development within the municipality; and establishes a communication path from the municipalities to the central government to signal readiness and evaluate how the municipalities are doing.
On January 25, at a meeting of parliamentarians convened by HP+ partner the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA) Malawi, a representative from the Department of Human Resources Management and Development reported that 925 midwives were recruited and 303 midwives were promoted during fiscal year 2018/2019. This success—which goes even further than the government’s initial commitment to hiring 800 midwives—is in large part due to WRA Malawi’s Bedside Midwives report that highlighted a shortage of 20,000 midwives and has been a key advocacy tool since the campaign began in 2017. At the meeting, WRA Malawi praised the government’s progress to date and asked for continued support through approval of an increased budget to recruit, train, and retain more midwives, and the creation of a district-level nursing and midwifery pathway.