MDTF NEWS Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Integrating Health Programs | June-August 2018 HSFA Indonesia Teams from the World Bank, Indonesian Government, and World Health Organization (WHO), are carrying out preparatory work for the health security financing assessment (HSFA) in Indonesia. The findings of the assessment will be instrumental in strengthening sustainable financing and resilient systems for health security in the country. Vietnam HSFA participants appreciate a point being made at the Picture on Page 2. assessment’s validation workshop in Hanoi on June 13. More PMAC reflections HSFA pilot in Vietnam revealing World Bank Health Manager The Health Security Financing Assessment (HSFA) just Toomas Palu and DFAT concluded in Vietnam has found that overall the country’s health Principal Health Specialist security system is well prepared with a good structure for Stephanie Williams look responding to public health threats to its population. back at what was learned from the side meeting of the The comprehensive assessment, piloted in Vietnam over the past Prince Mahidol Awards six months, also found that the country spent US$220 million on Conference in Bangkok health security in 2016, or US$2.4 per capita. Most of this came earlier this year. Read their from government budget and was spent at the provincial level. blog in the link below. The assessment offers valuable lessons for other countries in the More region where similar assessments will unfold. One lesson is that Health financing focus political commitment is central for preventing, controlling and The World Bank and responding to epidemics. Another important lesson is that Indonesia’s Ministry of financing the operational costs of necessary structures, both at national and local levels, is essential for preparedness. National Planning (Bappenas) held a focus These findings were revealed at a series of meetings on the group discussion on “Health Vietnam HSFA – validation workshop, regional technical task Financing for National force meeting, and brainstorming session on capacity building Strategic Health Planning” for health security financing – held in Hanoi on June 13-15, 2018. on May 24-25. MDTF e-newsletter 1 PNG and Pacific HFSAs Health Financing System Assessments for Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati are now available online. Executive summary pamphlets have been developed and will be available at the Pacific Update Conference and the Malaria Congress (see events section), and shared with key stakeholders in country. Furthermore, summary findings from the four HFSAs were published in a Devpolicy blog Indonesian government and World Bank team members at their entitled ‘Making health dollars productive HSFA preparatory meeting in May 2018. go further in the Pacific’ on 28 June 2018, which is also June to August events available on the WB Pacific Early June 2018: CSO Financing Mechanism in the Greater Facebook page. Jakarta Area, Indonesia Week of 11 June 2018: Needs of grassroots health system Immunizing ASEAN meeting in Vietnam The Bangkok Post wrote a 13-15 June 2018: Vietnam HSFA Validation and Regional cover story on putting money Health Security Technical Task Force Workshop in Hanoi, into pandemic preparedness in Vietnam #financinghealthsecurity the ASEAN region. It was 19-21 June 2018: Meeting of the Bi-Regional TAG on APSED published in the Asia Focus (III): Advancing Implementation of the IHR (2005), New Delhi, section of the newspaper. India More 21-22 June 2018: Workshop on Financing for Health Security in Tarawa, Kiribati Better safe than sorry June 2018: District Health Information System (DHIS2), Another Bangkok Post story, technical workshop on new features for immunization and maternal child health services in Lao PDR also in the Asia Focus section 1-5 July 2018: Presentation on Financing core health systems of the newspaper, about for essential services and security: integrating the agendas at the sustainable financing to ensure 1st Malaria World Congress in Melbourne, Australia people are safe from infectious 5-6 July 2018: Presentation on PNG and Pacific HFSAs at the diseases that can quickly Pacific Update Conference in Suva, Fiji, as part of a panel on engulf the globe. Health in the Pacific More Mid-July 2018: Strategic Health Purchasing, Technical Working Group Establishment in Indonesia Tonga’s tax hike dents Mid-July 2018: Public Expenditure Tracking for Health in smoking Indonesia 10 August 2018: Health Security quarterly meeting in World Bank Human Cambodia Development Specialist 13 August 2018: Heath Financing and UHC, capacity building Sutayut Osornprasop blogs on course in Lao PDR the Tongan government’s August 2018: Workshop to disseminate the Vietnam HSFA successful use of tobacco tax to final report effect better health outcomes. More MDTF e-newsletter 2 Learning from the immunization frontline in Yen Bai Officials from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the World Bank and Vietnam’s Ministry of Health visited Yen Bai province in mid-June for a first-hand look at grassroots service delivery in northern Vietnam. The team heard from frontline health workers about how they faced and resolved challenges related to delivering immunization services to people in poor, remote and mountainous communes. Generally, Vietnam has high immunization coverage rates but the timeliness of childhood immunization (such as Hepatitis B) remains a challenge. There are also coverage gaps, especially DFAT, World Bank and Vietnam’s Ministry of Health officials visiting a grassroots service in the mountainous communes with large ethnic delivery station in Yen Bai, northern Vietnam. minority populations whose healthcare access still lags behind that of the general population. Through US$5 million in co-financing from the MDTF for the “Investing and Innovating for Grassroots Service Delivery Reform Project”, DFAT will partner with the World Bank to assist the Government of Vietnam in ensuring the sustainability, performance, and integration of essential immunization services. Addressing Health Security in the Pacific The Kiribati Health Security Financing Workshop was held on the 21st and 22nd of June in Tarawa. This workshop provided an opportunity for the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) to examine how they can use their annual planning and budget process more effectively to achieve incremental improvements for health security over the coming years. With support from the World Bank, WHO, the Pacific Community, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Tupaia Health Participants at the health security financing Mapping, MHMS identified priority issues to workshop in Kiribati take a stretch after a long improve the preparedness and response capacity session. to health security threats in Kiribati.  The workshop was the first of its kind in the Pacific instigated by the World Bank. Discussions highlighted how core health systems need to be strengthened through this exercise so that MHMS can respond effectively to health emergencies or threats. The MHMS senior management team will review the priorities that were determined through the workshop and include them in the broader service delivery plans and budgets for 2019 and beyond. ————————————- To receive MDTF e-newsletter please contact: Sutayut Osornprasop, World Bank Thailand, sosornprasop@worldbank.org, +66 85 096 4999 Chadin Tephaval, World Bank Thailand, chadint@gmail.com, +66 86 600 0715 MDTF e-newsletter 3