Global Health Hub: news and blogosphere aggregator » Policy & Systems

Let’s Not Prematurely Surrender Zimbabwe’s Democracy (Senate Testimony)

CGDev — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:53:00 +0000

I had the great honor to testify today on US responses to Zimbabwe’s election crisis in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs. Kudos to Chairman Chris Coons (D-DE) and Ranking Member Jeff Flake (R-AZ) for bringing attention to a country that is facing a watershed moment, yet few others in Washington seem to be paying much mind. View the testimony here. Robert Mugabe has been in power for 33 years, but is, amazingly, determined to run for another term. You’d think that would get the State Department and others in the Administration fired up to try to use the election as an opportunity to promote democratic change

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Let’s Not Prematurely Surrender Zimbabwe’s Democracy (Senate Testimony)

The G-8: The End of the Beginning on Tackling Financial Secrecy

CGDev — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:07:00 +0000

This is a joint post with Owen Barder. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Winston Churchill, November 1942 The agenda for action to tackle illicit financial flows has passed an important threshold.

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The G-8: The End of the Beginning on Tackling Financial Secrecy

Development Impact Bonds: A New Business Model for Development

CGDev — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:49:00 +0000

The UK Ministry of Justice has released interim results for the Peterborough Prison Social Impact Bond: reconviction of former prisoners in the pilot has been reduced by 6% over two years, compared to a national increase of 16% over the same period. Although it is too soon to draw conclusions about the success of the Peterborough SIB, these early numbers suggest that programmes to reduce recidivism are being managed well and are addressing the needs of Peterborough ex-prisoners. The innovation of the Social Impact Bond is not just that it is a new financing instrument but that this has created space for a new business model for delivering complex social services. It is this possibility of opening up new ways to manage service delivery that led us to consider whether a similar approach could also be important for development.

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Development Impact Bonds: A New Business Model for Development

Key Farm Bill Amendments: Food Aid and (More) Market-Oriented Price Targets

CGDev — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:35:00 +0000

There are many, many problems with the House farm bill being debated this week but there are two amendments that would make significant improvements. The first (#55 in this list) is a version of the Royce-Bass Food Aid Reform Act that would provide authorization to untie up to 45 percent of the emergency food aid budget and allow the US Agency for International Development to provide assistance in whatever form—food purchased in the US or locally, vouchers, or cash transfers—would help the most people the quickest. The amendment, from Chairman Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Engel (D-NY) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also makes the practice of monetization discretionary and limits it to 15 percent of nonemergency food aid. Will McKitterick and I estimated that such a reform might allow the current budget to reach an additional 4 million to 10 million needy people. The second key amendment is sponsored by Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Ron Kind (D-WI) and it would make the most troublesome provision in the House bill, the price loss coverage option, a bit less troublesome.

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Key Farm Bill Amendments: Food Aid and (More) Market-Oriented Price Targets

The Obamas’ Africa Opportunity

CSIS Commission — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:15:00 +0000

President Barack Obama’s trip to Africa this month is focused on the pressing issues of economic growth and investment, democratization, and the next generation of African leaders. Yet a central element for achieving those goals is missing from the list – advancing the health and empowerment of women and girls. The Obamas have an opportunity to make this trip historic by explicitly committing the United States to focus on women and girls as a key pathway to progress for Africa. But will they seize it?

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The Obamas’ Africa Opportunity

Contraceptives, Vaccines and … Advocacy?

CSIS Commission — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:07:00 +0000

Increasingly, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have focused historically on delivering health – rather than advocating for it – are adding policy change to their tool kits. Advocacy goals and approaches vary from organization to organization and country to country; target audiences range from the general public to heads of state. Advocacy is usually done at the country level, but NGOs sometimes coalesce and take their efforts to the global stage. Although advocacy can seem discouraging and time-consuming in the short term – especially for organizations more used to immediate results – the benefits can accrue over the long term with a higher level of sustainable impact.

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Contraceptives, Vaccines and … Advocacy?

Top Ten Reasons Why Oil-to-Cash Won’t Work (And Rebuttals!)

CGDev — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:37:00 +0000

This is a joint post with Stephanie Majerowicz. When we share the Oil-to-Cash idea with people who are hearing about it for the very first time, the typical response is almost always viscerally negative. (If you aren’t familiar with Oil-to-Cash, here’s the web page and a 4-min jellybeans video.) They usually say “That won’t work because of X” or “Sure, that works in Alaska, but my country Y is very different” or “No, the money would be much better spent on Z”. Often, by the second or third time we talk with people about citizen dividends, however, they start to come around. In a few cases, we’ve even had former skeptics pitching us ideas of how it could work better

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Top Ten Reasons Why Oil-to-Cash Won’t Work (And Rebuttals!)

The evolving role of health care aides in the long-term care and home and…

Human Resources for Health — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Health Care Aides (HCAs) provide up to 80% of the direct care to older Canadians living in long term care facilities, or in their homes. They are an understudied workforce, and calls for health human resources strategies relating to these workers are, we feel, precipitous. First, we need a better understanding of the nature and scope of their work, and of the factors that shape it. Here, we discuss the evolving role of HCAs and the factors that impact how and where they work.

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The evolving role of health care aides in the long-term care and home and…

Oil-to-Cash Lessons from Alaska—Or Why Anchorage Isn’t So Different…

CGDev — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:14:00 +0000

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Oil-to-Cash Lessons from Alaska—Or Why Anchorage Isn’t So Different…

Oil2Cash Lessons from Alaska—Or Why Anchorage Isn’t So Different from…

CGDev — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:14:00 +0000

Followers of this blog should hopefully by now know all about Oil-to-Cash, our initiative to encourage a country facing the dilemmas of an oil or gas boom to consider distributing a portion of the proceeds directly to citizens. For the 4-minute summary, see my jellybeans video here. As part of our exploration of this idea, I recently returned from three glorious days in … Alaska. While this is an unusual destination for a CGDer who mostly thinks about African finance, I had three missions. First, I was presenting the first Oil-to-Cash Reader, The Governor’s Solution: How Alaska’s Oil Dividend Could Work in Iraq and Other Oil-Rich Countries at the University of Alaska at Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research.

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Oil2Cash Lessons from Alaska—Or Why Anchorage Isn’t So Different from…

These Six Ethiopian Nursing Students Will Become Lifesavers

IntraHealth — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:35:00 +0000

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These Six Ethiopian Nursing Students Will Become Lifesavers

Learning from the Early Success of India’s Health Insurance for the Poor,…

CGDev — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

India’s finance minister Chidambaram recently announced that Anil Swarup, the leader behind the Ministry of Labour’s health insurance program for the poor, was assigned as the head of a panel to identify and get results for 215 large and long-stalled projects. While this big news of Swarup’s transfer was anticipated, just five years ago it was hardly imaginable that Swarup and his team would start India’s health insurance program for the poor – Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) – and grow this fledgling to be one of India’s increasingly important vehicles of social protection and health coverage. While the evidence on RSBY is still developing, early results are encouraging: increased health care utilization and hospitalization; some indication of reduced out-of-pocket payments for healthcare; and a means of identification with a clearly linked entitlement (see here). Read the essay here. In a new essay, I explore several of the key features of RSBY’s early success – including the right leadership, the novel and systematic use of information and biometric technology, the aligning of incentives for hospitals and insurance companies, the smart use of additional payments rather than targets, and a constructive state-to-center relationship

Frontline Health Workers’ Key Role in Improving Nutrition

IntraHealth — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:20:00 +0000

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Frontline Health Workers’ Key Role in Improving Nutrition

A Development Agenda for the G-8 in 3 Ts

CGDev — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:23:00 +0000

UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced in January that his priorities for the G-8 during Britain’s presidency center on three Ts: taxes, trade, and transparency. Cameron has said that this summit is the opportunity for the G-8 to “get its own house in order.” This is a welcome focus on how the rules and systems of G-8 countries affect the rest of the world, and how they can be improved. Focusing on policies of G-8 countries themselves pressures them more than usual to reach an agreement: there is nobody else to blame if they do not deliver. Here are a few of my colleague’s suggestions on how to make the most of Cameron’s agenda for developed—and developing—countries.

A Small but Meaningful Gesture for President Obama’s Second Term

CGDev — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:25:00 +0000

LBJ did it. So did Bill Clinton. Gerald Ford did it twice, Jimmy Carter did it just five weeks before being voted out of office, then Ronald Reagan turned around and did it the following year, and three more times after that. Ok, the “it” could be a lot of things, but I’m referring to the fact that each of these presidents addressed the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank while they were in office. With all of the focus on a more robust foreign policy agenda in the president’s second term (and the travel that will support it), I hope the White House will consider the symbolic importance of appearing before these institutions’ annual fall gathering. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate support for the World Bank and IMF at the highest political level. This support is critical when proposals like the IMF quota increase or the World Bank’s general capital increase are sent to Congress for approval. Garnering votes for these institutions on the Hill has always been dicey. There is tremendous value, then, in having a long record of presidents from both parties speaking directly and affirmatively to the World Bank and IMF about their missions. Ronald Reagan, for instance, did so in his 1981 appearance: The IMF and the World Bank group have contributed enormously to the spread of hope of a better life throughout the world community… [These] institutions have worked tirelessly to preserve the framework for international economic cooperation and to generate confidence and competition in the world economy

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A Small but Meaningful Gesture for President Obama’s Second Term

Are Health Workers Delivering for Women? And Are We Delivering for Health…

IntraHealth — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:10:00 +0000

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Are Health Workers Delivering for Women? And Are We Delivering for Health…

The Incredible Shrinking Hulks of Trade

CGDev — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 22:47:00 +0000

A dispiriting exercise in blame-shifting took place in early June at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trade negotiators have been trying for months to find a few items where they agree so they can declare the Bali ministerial meeting in December a success, and then bury the broader Doha Round. Pretty much everyone accepts that a proposed agreement on trade facilitation would be useful and that is the most likely issue on which members could find consensus. Many countries would also like to move forward on at least some, relatively narrow, agricultural issues and on issues that could promote the integration of the least developed countries (LDCs). But in Geneva, everyone wants to get something, no one wants to give anything, and everyone is blaming everyone else for the deadlock.

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The Incredible Shrinking Hulks of Trade

Paul Farmer, Jim Kim, and Michael Porter on Redefining Global Health Care…

PIH — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Photo: Rebecca E. Rollins/Partners In HealthDr. Paul Farmer conducts rounds with the medical team at Bayalpata Hospital in Achham, Nepal. How do we define quality and value in global health? It is essential that health programs be comprehensive, integrated, and monitored so they can effectively address social and economic barriers to care for the poor

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Paul Farmer, Jim Kim, and Michael Porter on Redefining Global Health Care…

Attacks on Syria’s Medical Personnel and Facilities: Interviews with…

CSIS Commission — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:00:00 +0000

The CSIS Global Health Policy Center recently conducted a set of interviews with experts regarding the attacks on Syria’s medical personnel and facilities.

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Attacks on Syria’s Medical Personnel and Facilities: Interviews with…

Announcing the Center for Education Innovations

Center for Health Market Innovations — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Browse: Click “Read more” to see complete blog entries, scroll down to see the CHMI blog archive.Filter: View posts by topic using the tags on the rightComment: Click “Add New Comment” to add a comment and share your thoughts on a post.Have a question? Check the FAQs first. Don’t see your question? Contact us.

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Announcing the Center for Education Innovations