Universal Health Coverage

A version of this post originally appeared on USAID's Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) project blog. Nearly 30 staff from Management Sciences for Health (MSH), including several from LMG, participated in the fourth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), January 25-28, 2016, in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, which called for "Global Commitments, Local Actions.” The conference was co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Population and Family Planning Board of Indonesia (BKKBN).

Post updated February 19, 2016.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services figure prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals. So it is not surprising that The International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) maintained important focus on these topics, including through the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) auxiliary event, “Universal Access to Family Planning and Reproductive Health: Who’s Accountable in the Post-2015 Era?” on January 27. Co-sponsored by the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) and Family Planning 2020 (FP2020), the event featured an illustrious group of panelists giving their perspectives on UHC, while exploring the intersection of health financing policy and accountability as countries move into universal access for family planning.

Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH, President and CEO of MSH, moderated the conversation and perhaps stated it best: “Now, more than ever, it is clear that getting family planning into national policies is critical.” 

Management Sciences for Health (MSH) joined more than 1,000 attendees, including global and local businesses and governments, at the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA)’s 10^th Biennial US-Africa Business Summit, hosted in partnership with the African Union and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, this week. Established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the US and nations of Africa, CCA serves as a neutral, trusted intermediary connecting its members with essential government and business leaders. MSH joined the CCA as a member for the first time this year. Representatives from MSH Ethiopia and the US attended the summit.

Healthcare is growing and changing rapidly in Africa, and the demand for quality healthcare is creating opportunities for business investment and engagement. The Summit's Health track focused on the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals; how public/private partnerships between businesses, NGOs, and governments can address the challenges and opportunities; and the importance of building resilient health systems and healthy workforces.  

For the fourth year in a row, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) invited staff to submit stories about how health systems save lives and improve the health of the poorest and most vulnerable worldwide. MSH staff from 34 projects submitted over 50 stories from 2015. These 12 stories, selected by MSH staff judges, demonstrate how good storytelling and effective partnerships can save more lives.

In this special edition of our Global Health Impact Newsletter (subscribe), meet health workers, community leaders, pharmacy managers, beneficiaries working together toward healthier communities. Stories and authors appear alphabetically by country:

by Arthur Loryoun

Editor's note: This post originally appeared on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's blog, Impatient Optimists. Funded by the Gates Foundation and led by Management Sciences for Health (MSH), the Sustainable Drug Sellers Initiative (SDSI) project worked to ensure the sustainability of public-private drug seller initiatives in Tanzania and Uganda, and to roll-out the initiative in Liberia.

MSH's Douglas Keene, PharmD, MHS, Vice President, Pharmaceuticals & Health Technologies Group, was among the speakers at a recent event in Basel, Switzerland, hosted by Novartis, with representatives from NGOs, academia, and government discussing how to expand access to health in developing countries, including through the newly-launched program, Novartis Access.

MSH is partnering on Novartis Access to help empower governments of low- and lower-middle-income countries to provide access to health for chronic diseases patients who need it most. Ensuring affordable and equitable access to medicines is critical to achieving health for all -- and central to MSH's mission and health-systems strengthening approach.

December 12 marks the second annual global Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, and what a year it has been.

Through legal reform and new programs, many countries — like Burkina Faso and Iran — have made important progress on the path to UHC. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced in September reinforced the world's commitment to UHC; the third SDG calls for "good health and well-being" and includes a target of achieving universal health coverage.

Now that goals and targets have been set, indicators to track progress are being agreed upon, and we must focus on the implementation, monitoring and accountability of these goals. Accountability — encompassing the interconnected functions of monitoring, review, and remedial action — is imperative to guiding implementation and accelerating progress across the SDGs.

As the world begins working toward the newly developed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring access to reproductive health supplies must be considered.

More than 100 countries are in the process of adopting or advancing universal health coverage (UHC) mechanisms to achieve the targets set for Goal 3, which calls for “good health and well-being.”

Despite the momentum, 400 million people lack access to at least one of seven life-saving health services. And in 2012, an estimated 222 million women lacked access to effective family planning. FP2020’s goal of enabling 120 million women and girls to use modern contraception requires countries to include sexual and reproductive health services and supplies when discussing health benefits packages under national insurance laws, policies, and other related UHC efforts. Moreover, marginalized populations should be prioritized for free or subsidized care.

The universal health coverage (UHC) movement has reached a turning point. With an unprecedented coalition of global partners rallying behind the UHC movement, the inclusion of UHC as a key aim of the newly launched sustainable development goals, and growing recognition of health as a human right, the real work of achieving UHC has begun – many countries are now grappling with the challenge of making UHC a reality.

As a key partner in bringing the UHC agenda to the forefront of the global community MSH is on the leading edge of translating this global momentum into tangible gains for women, children, and families at the country level. This UHC Day, MSH is working to advance #HealthforAll by recognizing that UHC means that people should have access to not only the health services they need, but also to the essential medicines and heath commodities that help to treat many of the most serious global health threats.

Ensuring equitable and affordable access to medicines is a key component of achieving UHC, but one that is often left out of the conversation. As many low- and middle-income countries start implementing a range of UHC policies, programs, and initiatives, MSH is taking steps to ensure that access to medicines remains on the agenda.

Tuberculosis (TB) is now the leading infectious cause of death worldwide -- ahead of HIV. While major advances in the diagnosis and treatment of TB have been made since 1990, children suffering from this disease have remained neglected and vulnerable. An estimated 1 million children become ill with TB each year, and at least 200 children die each day from TB around the world.

TB is curable and preventable, but we must recognize and treat it with the least possible delay. For children experiencing TB symptoms, the primary point of health care, often community-level facilities, is an important opportunity to identify and begin treatment. Symptoms such as a persistent cough, loss of appetite and high fevers must be recognized as possible signs of TB (not just of pneumonia, malaria, malnutrition, and other common illnesses among children), and health workers must be empowered to recognize and take appropriate action. Ensuring that children can access treatment close to home is a critical step towards eliminating preventable deaths from TB.