Incentives and Health System Efficiency in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Posted On 2021-12-21 10:40:20

The World Health Organization (WHO) placed “value for money” as an important element to move countries towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in its 2010 World Health Report, stressing that health systems should pay attention to improving efficiency of using existing funding for better health outcomes.

A significant amount of health resources are wasted, which would saving millions of lives if they were used wisely and efficiently. The efficiency of using available funding, along with the innovations to generate new resources for health, is critical for achieving UHC. This special series compiles studies that aims to improve the health system efficiency in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ukraine, Haiti, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Editorial
Improving health system efficiency for better health outcomes
Wu Zeng

Original Article
Cost-effectiveness analysis of the decentralized facility financing and performance-based financing program in Nigeria
Wu Zeng, Elina Pradhan, Madhulika Khanna, Opeyemi Fadeyibi, György Fritsche, Oluwole Odutolu

Cost-effectiveness of results-based financing of maternal and child health services in Zimbabwe: a controlled pre-post study
Donald S. Shepard, Wu Zeng, Ronald Mutasa, Ashis Kumar Das, Chenjerai N. Sisimayi, Shepherd Shamu, Stephen Banda, Jed Friedman

Exploratory study estimating the impact of performance-based financing (PBF) on quality of care and on the contextual factors mediating the effectiveness of PBF in improving quality of care in Zimbabwe
Ronald U. Mutasa, Sarah Baird, Felicia Takavarasha, Anne Markus, Jed Friedman, Wu Zeng

Efficiency of health facilities providing antiretroviral treatment services in Botswana
Carlos Avila, Wu Zeng, Chris Cintron

Technical efficiency analysis of health facilities in Haiti: a stochastic frontier approach
Leulsegged Kasa, Diana Bowser, Allyala Nandakumar

Review Article
Implementing health financing policies to overhaul the healthcare delivery system in Ukraine
Carlos Avila

Original Article
Analysis of equity in utilization of health services in Afghanistan using a national household survey
Farhad Farewar, Khwaja Mir Ahad Saeed, Abo Ismael Foshanji, Said Mohammad Karim Alawi, Mohammad Yonus Zawoli, Omarzaman Sayedi, Wu Zeng