Members of our ThinkWell team in the Philippines presented at the 6th PhilHealth STUDIES Forum held on November 9, 2022 at the Philippine International Convention Center. The theme of this year’s forum was “Health Financing in Post-Pandemic Times: Exploring New Theories and Practices to Advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC).”

Dr. Pura Angela “Peewee” Co and Dr. Helena “Lena” Alvior presented to the plenary during the morning session findings from the work done under the Strategic Purchasing for Primary Health Care project. Peewee shared perspectives on strengthening public financial management (PFM) systems and practices for health in response to COVID-19. This was based on the paper ThinkWell prepared for the 5th Meeting of the Montreux Collaborative to share country experiences on adjustments of PFM mechanisms for the COVID-19 response. Lena presented findings from the applied stakeholder analysis in mapping political actors involved in the implementation of UHC in 25 provinces in the Philippines. This paper was also in the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Congress in 2021.

Dr. Marife Yap shared findings on “Oncology Financing in the Philippines” as part of the panel titled “Expanding UHC with Responsive Benefits.” This work is part of the global work on “Oncology Financing: Evidence from Country Experiences to Inform the Global Challenge” which is supported with funding from Merck & Co., Inc. As part of this work, ThinkWell generated case studies in six countries: the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Serbia, Spain, and Sweden.

The Philippines continues to strive for UHC amidst all the challenges faced in the last few years. Generation and dissemination of knowledge is key during this journey, and they are gaining a more central role during events such as PhilHealth STUDIES Forum. ThinkWell continues to implement projects that generate knowledge on health financing and health systems and aims to remain a key partner of the country in its journey toward UHC.

DECEMBER 2022 UPDATE

Two of the posters that Technical Advisor Geminn Apostol presented were honored with best poster awards at the conference. Click the links below to find the posters:

Mapping the Complex and Multiple Financing Roles and Expenditure Flows for Family Planning (FP) in the Philippines: A nationwide study from 2018-2019

Challenges to Achieving Contraceptive Self-Reliance in Devolved Health Systems: Insights from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya

In November 2022, members of the ThinkWell team participated in the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP).

About ICFP

This is the world’s largest gathering of family planning (FP) and reproductive health professionals. Over the years, ICFP has “grown into a platform for researchers, advocates, governments, and communities; a movement towards achieving access to family planning for all; and a growing community guided by the spirit of partnership, inclusivity, innovation, and scientific rigor.

“As the larger family planning community looks ‘beyond 2020’ to realign [global] goals and reposition for the future of family planning, ICFP 2022 will be a strategic benchmark as the community prepares to recommit to a goal of universal access by 2030.”

ThinkWell at ICFP

Members of the ThinkWell team from an array of projects led several oral presentations, as well as satellite and poster sessions.

Dr. Marie-Jeanne Offosse gave two oral presentations as part of a larger panel session. One presentation covered the costs and demands for family planning in Burkina Faso; the other offered health care provider perspectives on free family planning services. From ThinkWell Philippines, Geminn Apostol led a session on how to expand family planning access through public-private health care provider networks in the Philippines.

Other members of the ThinkWell team presented at ICFP include Sarah Straubinger who gave an oral presentation titled “Understanding family planning counseling for Burkinabé women: Study results to confirm the quality-of-care measures for routine service monitoring,” the result of a 27-country global desk review.

Edward Sutanto of ThinkWell also presented findings from a study on “experience, perception, and preference among Indonesian contraceptive users.” A ThinkWell learning partner, Dr. Pip, of University of Philippines Visayas, led oral presentations and poster sessions on our family planning work in Indonesia and the Philippines. For a more detailed list, please see below.

Our team and partners participated in an insightful, inspiring, and exciting ICFP 2022!