P4H – Global Network for Health Financing and Social Protection


The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the need for sustainable financing of health systems so that they can adequately respond to shocks and maintain quality essential services even during a health crisis. The Global Network for Health Financing and Social Protection (P4H) provides coordinated support of multilateral and bilateral partners to low and middle-income countries that want to raise more domestic resources for health and use available financing effectively for key health priorities.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Global
Health
Vocational training
Health systems strengthening
Advanced professional training
01.01.2021 - 30.06.2024
CHF  5’940’000
Background At least half of the world’s population still do not have access to the full range of essential health services, and over 930 million people spend at least 10% of their household budgets to pay for health care. Limited public financial resources for health, ineffective allocation of funds to different schemes and programmes, limited cross-sectoral collaboration as well as a lack of effective and transparent public financial management and accountability, impede efforts towards Universal Health Coverage, i.e. access to quality health services for people in low and middle income countries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how critical sustainable financing of health systems is to improve, maintain and protect people’s health. Switzerland will continue engaging in The Global Network for Health Financing and Social Protection P4H by providing coordinated support with other bilateral and multilateral partners in countries like Chad, Myanmar or Mozambique. In this phase, emphasis will be placed on the effective allocation of resources for priority health needs of vulnerable people and critical system functions, and on better alignment of external funding with the national priorities.
Objectives

The overall goal of P4H is to contribute to sustainable development and health for all in low and middle-income countries by supporting them in their efforts to build robust health systems and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

P4H focuses on the development of effective, equitable and sustainable health financing and social health protection mechanisms in order to provide quality health services according to people’s needs, protect people from health threats and financial hardship due to ill-health, and to unfold their economic and social potential.

Target groups

Ultimate beneficiaries of P4H are populations in low and middle-income countries; in particular those who do not have access to comprehensive quality health services they need and/or do not benefit from financial protection.

Direct clients are governments striving to build equitable and sustainable health financing or social health protection mechanisms.

Indirect beneficiaries are P4H partners who create higher impact through coordination and harmonisation of their approaches.

Medium-term outcomes

The objective is that governments are able to build sustainable health financing mechanisms for resilient health systems and UHC.

To do so, following outcomes are expected:

1.    Strengthened national health financing capacities through coordinated technical advisory and other services provided by multi- and bilateral partners.

2.    External funding through global mechanisms (The Global Fund) better aligned with and embedded in national health financing strategies

3.    Fit-for-purpose P4H network playing a lead catalytic role in countries and at global level.

Results

Expected results:  

National health financing capacities:
-  Joint capacity development of partner countries
   on resource mobilization and pooling as well as
   on purchasing of health services
-  Knowledge sharing (through webinars,
   conferences, joint papers, P4H platform).

Alignment of external funds:
-  Improved impact of P4H Focal Points by
   increasing their skill sets in external funding
   processes.
- Facilitated channelling of global funding through
  national financing mechanisms.
- Joint strategic deployment and funding of focal
  points in priority countries. 

Reformed P4H network:
·   Roll out constituency based governance model.
·  Increased accountability of the network and its
   implementing bodies, including the Coordination
   Desk and focal points.
- Developed joint Monitoring&Evaluation framework.


Results from previous phases:  

·  Network growth from 13 members (2017) to 18 (2020) newly joint by China, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Morocco, and Russia.

·  15 countries benefited from P4H Focal Points of which two newly financed by SDC in Chad (Oct. 2018) and Myanmar (Aug. 2019). In-country health financing experts capacitate Governments to advance UHC.

·  In Chad, the Focal Point supported the development of the law on the national health insurance system, approved by the Parliament.

·  The Leadership4UHC programme completed its 2019-2020 cycle with high level governmental participants from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal, Myanmar, Pakistan and Vietnam. Follow-up activities in Nepal and Chad were intensified.

·  A political economy repository of 111 analytical documents, reviews and country case studies and publications was created.

- P4H network governance reform is initiated and informed by a 2020 external evaluation of the network (e.g. constituency-based steering group).


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Project partners Contract partner
Foreign state institution
United Nations Organization (UNO)
  • International Labor Organization
  • World Health Organization


Other partners
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; Agence Française de Développement; USAID; World Bank; ILO; WHO; The Global Fund, Global Financing Facility, regional development banks of Africa / Asia
Coordination with other projects and actors SDC bilateral programs in Chad, Mozambique, Cambodia, Myanmar, Tanzania; The Global Fund; openIMIS; BACKUP initiative, GAVI The Global Vaccine Alliance.
Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    5’940’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    5’225’716
Project phases Phase 5 01.01.2021 - 30.06.2024   (Current phase) Phase 4 01.01.2018 - 30.06.2021   (Completed) Phase 3 01.01.2014 - 30.06.2018   (Completed) Phase 2 01.12.2010 - 31.12.2013   (Completed)