Essential Package of Health Services Country Snapshot Series: 24 Priority Countries

Led by Abt Associates, the project team works with partner countries to increase their domestic resources for health, manage those resources more effectively, and make wise purchasing decisions. The five-year, $209 million global project aims to increase the use of both primary and priority health services, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and reproductive health services. The project focuses on the Governance Dimensions of Essential Packages of Health Services (EPHS) in 24 Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Death (EPCMD) priority countries. An EPHS is defined as the package of services that the government provides or aspires to provide to its citizens in an equitable manner. The project explores several important dimensions of the EPHS in each country, including government policies that contribute to service coverage, population coverage, and financial coverage of the package. The project team reviewed primary and secondary sources to identify the country's EPHS and gather information related to health services delivery, service coverage, population coverage, and financial coverage. The analysis used a definition of EPHS as the package of health care services that the government provides or aspires to provide to its citizens in an equitable manner. Equity involves adequate coverage across population groups, adequate physical coverage, and adequate financial coverage. The project compared the EPHS to the list of 60 priority reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) interventions developed by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in 2011. The comparison categorized each intervention as included, explicitly excluded, implicitly excluded, or unspecified. The project also obtained key RMNCH indicators from the Global Health Observatory (WHO 2014) to evaluate the extent to which certain RMNCH services from the EPHS are actually available and used in the country. The project's methodology involved reviewing primary and secondary sources, including government policy documents, peer-reviewed articles, international reports, and gray literature. The analysis occurred between August 2014 and April 2015. The project team used a definition of EPHS and compared it to the list of priority RMNCH interventions to identify the extent to which each country's EPHS included these interventions. The project's findings are presented in a series of 24 country snapshots, which include annexes that contain further information about the EPHS. The snapshots explore the governance dimensions of the EPHS in each country and provide a comparison of the country's package to the list of priority RMNCH interventions. The project's findings are intended to inform the development of policies and programs to improve health service delivery and health outcomes in the 24 priority countries. The project's methodology and findings are based on a comprehensive review of primary and secondary sources, including government policy documents, peer-reviewed articles, international reports, and gray literature. The project team used a definition of EPHS and compared it to the list of priority RMNCH interventions to identify the extent to which each country's EPHS included these interventions. The project's findings are intended to inform the development of policies and programs to improve health service delivery and health outcomes in the 24 priority countries. The project's focus on the governance dimensions of EPHS is critical to improving health service delivery and health outcomes in developing countries. The project's methodology and findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the EPHS in each of the 24 priority countries and highlight the importance of considering the governance dimensions of EPHS in the development of policies and programs to improve health service delivery and health outcomes.