ZIMBABWE should not rely on Results Based Financing (RBF) only but explore other options for financing the healthcare delivery system, a member of the Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians said.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
Dr Ngonidzashe Masuka told HealthTimes that lessons learnt in Zimbabwe on RBF show that the country has got the capacity landscape for health financing, strategic purchasing in health, how to prioritise benefit packages and how to pay for them.
Zimbabwe has got a lot of lessons that have been learnt from implementing results based financing program and other forms of financing that are there.
“I think most important is that this kind of discussion is packaged in a way that produces a policy brief which we are going to do, and it gets into the hands of the right persons who are supposed to make the way forward about how Zimbabwe progresses towards universal health coverage by utilizing the limited resources that are available to benefit Zimbabweans,” he said.
Dr Masuka added, “The issue about magic bullet is that it was meant to relay the message RBF is not the only solution to the current challenges. There are complementary solutions but this is one of them. So don’t expect that if you do results based financing then all your problems will go away. No. You need to complement it with other solutions.”
Dr Effison Dhodho said the country may implement RBF in provincial and central hospitals this year.
Crown Agents Zimbabwe country director Muchaneta Mwonzora said the country was doing well in implementing RBF which has seen unity of purpose to achieve certain indicators such as maternal, reproductive and child health.
According to the Crown Agents Website section on Results based financing for healthcare in Zimbabwe, 2 million more children having their growth monitored each year, Over 900 health facilities trained in data management and 130,000 more women receiving antenatal care services per year.
“Crown Agents is implementing the RBF programme, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), in 42 rural districts in Zimbabwe since 2014. The programme is supported by the Health Transition Fund and now the Health Development Fund (HDF), covering 830 rural health facilities with an estimated total catchment area population of 6.6 million. Supported by the World Bank, Cordaid is implementing in 18 districts to ensure the whole country is covered,” says Crown Agents.
Crown Agents’approach:
- Contracting not-for-profit health facilities, provincial and district health executives and community-based organisations to deliver specified services
- Verifying the delivery of these services, including quantitative and qualitative checks
- Paying out against the contracts
- Building the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in RBF operations at all levels
- Ongoing evaluation of the RBF model, including identification of possible improvements
