In October 2022, the Strategic Health Purchasing Pilot for Maternal and Newborn Health Services (“the pilot”) launched in Serang District of Indonesia. The pilot is a collaborative effort from the Ministry of Health and Indonesia’s Health Insurance Agency (BPJSK) to improve the way that maternal and newborn health services are paid for under the country’s […]

Since 2011, ThinkWell has expanded access to high quality health services to underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries by addressing health system challenges that rarely get the attention they need. Universal health coverage lies at the center of our work, and while there are hundreds of initiatives to address hundreds more health issues, diseases, […]

This piece originally appeared in P4H here. Written by Angela Kairu (Research Officer, KEMRI Wellcome Trust), Marissa Maggio (Communications Specialist, ThinkWell), Nirmala Ravishankar (Program Director, ThinkWell) and Edwine Barasa (Director, KEMRI Wellcome Trust). Public sector health care facilities are a major avenue for the delivery of key health interventions in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and, as such, […]

This piece originally appeared in P4H here. It was written by Christian Edward Nuevo, Maria Eufemia Yap, Matt Boxshall, and Nirmala Ravishankar.  Primary health care (PHC), first introduced through the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978, emphasizes that addressing health needs should be people-centered and multi-sectoral in approach. The recently passed Universal Health Care (UHC) Law […]

This piece originally appeared in P4H here. It was written by Dredge, R., Nuevo, C. E., and Paterno, A. R. The Philippine Universal Health Care (UHC) Law of 2019 introduced system-level reforms on health financing, particularly for the provider payment mechanisms of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). PhilHealth is the implementer of the National Health […]

On July 15, the 2021 International Health Economics Association (iHEA) Congress came to a close. After four busy days of health economists and health system leaders exchanging bold ideas, five ThinkWell attendees shared their main take-aways from the conference. Present & Future of Immunization Costing Laura Boonstoppel, Sr. Program Manager With vaccination on top of […]

This piece originally appeared in Nation here. It was written by Anne Musuva, ThinkWell’s country director for Kenya.  What you need to know: Currently, NHIF enrolment is mandatory among workers in the formal sector The informal sector employs over 80 per cent of Kenyans The Kenyan government has identified universal health coverage (UHC) as part […]

One of the proposals in the 2021 National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Amendment Bill stipulates that all Kenyans must be registered under NHIF in the new Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program. When this news broke in mid-February, the media balked. Much of the uproar was in response to mandatory NHIF enrollment. Many Kenyans believed that […]

“The cord might be around her neck, so we will need to schedule a C-section. How does next Wednesday sound?” My obstetrician smiled reassuringly. It was 1992 in Brazil. My first C-section. Not medically necessary I’ve come to learn. Brazil offers a cautionary tale of C-section rates over 50% of all births, well above the […]