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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Ladi Awosika, MD, Total Health Trust, 3 Marconi Road, Palmgrove Estate, Lagos, Nigeria, 234 802 290 7595, ladiawo@yahoo.com and Taara Chandani, PSP-One, Banyan Global, 4800 Montgomery Lane Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814.

Given its high fertility rate of 5.9, Nigeria's population of 131 million is expected to grow at 2.8 percent per year. The use of modern contraception is among the lowest in the region (8%) and signals an urgent need to increase access to RH/FP services. In response to these and other poor health indicators, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was launched in September 2005 to increase access to affordable care. Eighty percent of NHIS contracts today are managed through private health providers, exemplifying a new public-private partnership. This session will describe an innovative approach to engaging the commercial health sector to address public health objectives. Total Health Trust (THT) is a commercial HMO in Nigeria that contracts with private providers to offer pre-defined insurance packages, covering reproductive health and family planning services. Recently accredited by the NHIS to provide healthcare for public sector employees, THT scaled-up its network of private providers from 280 to 1,000 in 2005. The USAID-funded Private Sector Partnerships-One project is partnering with THT to manage this rapid growth, with a particular focus on instituting a quality assurance system to streamline service delivery and emphasize RH/FP services, and enhancing the capacity of providers to operate within a capitated scheme. As a result of this intervention, providers in the network are adapting their business practices to actively promote preventive care such as RH/FP services, as well as improving the quality of their services.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• describe an innovative public-private model to expand the supply of RH/FP health services
• assess how different types of insurance payments influence provider behavior.

Keywords: International Reproductive Health, National Health Insurance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation