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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
PAHO/WHO and Bahamas gov't engage national stakeholders in dialogue on universal access to health coverage
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Nassau, Bahamas – On the occasion of the first official visit of Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), to The Bahamas, PAHO/WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health hosted an engaging technical breakfast on addressing Universal Health Coverage on Friday July 17th, 2015. The event provided a unique opportunity for key stakeholders to engage in an intimate dialogue with the PAHO Director on the Organization’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Strategy and the introduction of universal health coverage nationally.
Dr. M. Perry Gomez, Minister of Health, and Dr. Carissa Etienne, PAHO/WHO Director delivered key presentations at the event.
Dr. Gomez opened discussions highlighting The Bahamas government’s steps towards the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) on January 2016. He highlighted their assessment of access to care across the spectrum of health services, identified of inefficiencies and inequities in the current system. With nearly 2/3 of the population lacking health insurance and hundreds of thousands of people lacking a social safety net, the implementation of this national scheme has been designed to address the population needs.
The Minister identified 4 pillars “key strategies” being taken to move the country towards implantation of NHI: health system strengthening (inclusive of stronger regulatory and governance structures), registration of entities into the NHI system, elimination of out of pocket payments at point of access of services (in the public and private clinics) and provision for certain financially catastrophic services.
Dr. Etienne underscored that the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) and a health systems strengthening action plan is a step a right direction towards universal access to health and universal health coverage for The Bahamas, stressing that strengthening first level of care has significant benefits in the move toward universal health coverage.
The Director also highlighted that health financing is more than NHI. Reducing inefficiencies and inequities and implementation of a strong health promotion and prevention plan to control non-communicable diseases will be vital in the nation’s move towards universal access to health and universal health coverage.
She shared several examples of regional cooperation and resources sharing initiatives that have been utilized to enhance and improve the internal capacity of rural communities, similar to the country’s “Family Islands”, to adequately respond to local needs. Dr. Etienne continued, stressing the important skillsets that community nurses and nurse practitioners provide and the critical role they play in the implementation of UHC.
The Director closed the session by stating this work is not easy; it takes time and implored the people of The Bahamas to have patience as the government moves forward in this important health reform.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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