African Workshop on Performance-Based Financing for Health

The global health world is not short on meetings, but some look more enticing than others. One of particular interest is a workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, May 2-4, 2007, to train teams of African implementers and researchers to develop performance-based incentive schemes within their own health systems.

Using incentives to improve performance is indeed demonstrating potential, in a world where workable solutions to fix health systems continue to elude many who care about improving health in poor countries. In several large-scale interventions in low-income countries, linking incentive rewards to verified performance has led to impressive improvements across indicators such as increased immunization coverage; increased prenatal care; and increased deliveries assisted by a trained birth attendant. A working group convened by CGD is preparing a report that discusses the potential for performance-based incentives to improve health results in developing country settings - and highlights the key design, implementation and evaluation challenges.

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Ruth Levine

Non-Resident Fellow

Drawing upon this and other work, the USAID-funded workshop will sponsor five teams of three "stakeholders" from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants will learn about performance based financing approaches that have achieved results in other countries, how to work together as a team to identify what is impeding good performance, and how to design and implement a performance based financing approach customized for their country.

The application process is itself a bit of an innovation. To apply, participants should first form a team of three stakeholders that are likely to be partners in a performance-based payment system in one country, for example: a payer or policy maker; a recipient organization; and a key stakeholder group likely to be directly affected such as a local government unit, medical or health worker associations and civil society groups. To submit expressions of interest, send the application form (.doc) to Jenna Wright and Mark Bura by March 14, 2007; further instructions are included in the application.