No country has made progress towards UHC without relying on a dominant share of public funds, putting public financial management (PFM) at the core of the UHC agenda. Optimizing how public funds for health are managed and flow through the PFM system is critical for progressing towards UHC with available resources. A robust and transparent PFM system enhances efficiency and equity in health spending and hence better sector results. Evidence shows that, while African countries have initiated overall PFM reforms, key weaknesses remain in how public resources are planned, allocated, used and accounted for in the health sector.
In most countries of the region, the basic foundations of PFM (budget formulation, execution and accountability functions) need to be strengthened through accelerated reforms and better dialogue between finance and health authorities. There is a need to assess, share and review PFM bottlenecks that jeopardize the realization of UHC and identify priority areas of action.
As countries embark on health financing reforms, there is a need to better coordinate PFM and health financing reforms to improve consistency, alignment and maximize progress. There is thus a need to address the gaps in understanding, awareness of the issues and involvement in both PFM and health financing interventions.
The World Health Organization, African Development Bank and other partners in the Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA) initiative are organizing a series of regional and sub-regional meetings that will convene key financing and budget officers from the Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance. This is the first of these meetings to be held between 25-28 September 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.
A background report on Building strong public financial management systems towards universal health coverage: key bottlenecks and lessons learnt from country reforms in the African region will serve to frame the discussions and will be circulated to the participants for review and feedback.
Objectives
- To create a shared understanding of key PFM bottlenecks in the health sector and to support health ministries’ engagement with PFM processes
- To review country experiences and solutions to improve and strengthen PFM systems in health in the region
- To identify country support needs for technical support and knowledge sharing on PFM in health
- To initiate thinking around the creation of a regional network of budget and financing officials from Ministries of Finance and Health
Summary of main topics
| 1 | Sustainable financing for UHC |
| 2 | How PFM matters for health: evidence from the region and beyond and country perspectives |
| 3 | Budget formulation and structure in health |
| 4 | Budget implementation and execution in health |
| 5 | Budget accountability for health |
| 6 | Fiscal decentralization for health and PFM |
| 7 | Reflecting on key challenges and lessons learnt from country experiences: developing roadmaps for support |
Participation is by invitation only.