This presentation will discuss the rationale, objectives, components, and implementing strategy of the Philippines Health Sector Reform Agenda. The reform program, conceptualized in 1999 and formally launched in 2000, was born from the 1997 National Health Accounts and an analysis of reasons underlying the mediocre performance of the Philippines health sector. The reform agenda is anchored on the three main policy instruments available to the Department of Health to influence the behavior of the sector: service delivery, regulation, and financing.
The program consists of five major components: public health reform; hospital reform; local health systems development; regulatory reform, including the strengthening of drug management systems; and social health insurance system reform. Because of resource constraints and to ensure that the reforms are sustained given the new government that took office in January 2001, an innovative implementing strategy must be devised. The strategy aims to create irreversible momentum for the reform effort by focusing implementation in 64 strategically located provinces and cities. Whether this strategy will prove successful, given the high level of uncertainty in the political environment, may become clear over the next several months. This presentation includes a case study of maintaining key health priorities during abrupt and unpredictable political changes. The Health Passport Initiative, a key activity for maintaining and expanding health service delivery in the Philippines, will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, the participants in this session will be able to: a) Cite at least four major reasons for the mediocre performance of the Philippines health sector; b) Enumerate the five components of the Philippines Health Sector Reform Agenda; and c) Describe the implementing strategy for the reform program.
Keywords: Health Reform, Politics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Management Sciences for Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.