Helping Communities Manage risks from the ground up.
Health Financing and Management
Advisory Services
Project Title: Health Financing and Public Financial Management Situation Analysis in Dodoma Region, Tanzania
PROJECT CATEGORY:Advisory Services
OBJECTIVE:
To provide international expertise regarding health financing and public financial management in the context of the Tanzanian health sector. Additionally, the aim was to appraise potential interventions for implementation and develop a comprehensive and integrated support package that can be applied at the district and health facility level to strengthen the health financing system.
BACKGROUND:
Upon independence, health care was mandated as a free service in Tanzania. However, with poor economic conditions in the 1980's the Government was no longer able to fully fund health care and the need for health sector reforms became evident. Various reforms were introduced to bridge this funding gap including decentralisation of management, social health insurance for formal sector employees (National Health Insurance Fund - NHIF), and community contributions (user fees and the Community Health Funds - CHF). Implementation of CHF has yet to be successfully carried out in Tanzania and requires structural reform. The flow of funds from the District Government to the health facility level also needs to be facilitated and trainings to improve claiming, reimbursement and utilisation of funds from the NHIF are deemed as necessary to create a well functioning health system.
PROJECT CONCEPT:
The approach used for this situational analysis was a combination of a desk review, Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). KIIs were carried out with over 100 resource persons, and 7 FGD were held with groups divided between males and females. Findings from the field work were used to propose a structural reform for the CHFs.
The situational analysis was conducted in the context of the Health Promotion and Systems Strenghtening project implemented by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).
PARTNERS:
- Swiss TPH
- Swiss Development Corporation (SDC)
- Ifakara Health Institute
FUNDING:
Swiss TPH
DURATION:2010
COUNTRY:Tanzania
LOCATION:
- Desk work: Delhi, India
- Field and policy work: Dar es Salaam and Dodoma, Tanzania
- Stakeholder workshop: Dodoma, Tanzania
CONTACT:Ralf Radermacher, Director of Training and Research, ralf@mia.org.in and Mackenzie Vanderhyden, Consultant, mackenzie@mia.org.in
PROGRESS:
The project has been completed.
