Government of Ethiopia TB Resource-Tracking Template - Tool Narrative

This difficulty arises from the inability to track current investments in TB programming, making it challenging to justify additional financing to address program gaps. TB expenditures are managed across various financial management systems, with varying tracking and reporting functionalities. A comprehensive electronic financial management system to track health program-specific expenditures does not exist, although plans are underway to develop a Health Financing Information System (HFIS) that will consolidate and digitize the health resource tracking systems in the country. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Health Systems for TB (HS4TB) Ethiopia team, working with the National TB Program (NTP) and the Strategic Affairs Executive Office (SAEO), has developed a TB Resource-Tracking Template to address the current TB resource tracking challenges. The NTP intends to use this tool for annual resource tracking and reporting purposes, which will enhance advocacy efforts for additional domestic financing and co-financing negotiations with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and other partner organizations. The tool is being piloted in Oromia Regional Health Bureau and Sidama Health Bureau in 2024, with plans to scale it nationwide to all regions and city administrators, following the pilot and endorsement of the final tool by the SAEO. The TB Resource-Tracking Template is designed to track TB resources from different channels to the subnational level. There are three main channels of funding: channel one funds, which flow through the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to the MOH-E and to regions directly; channel two funds, which are directly deposited into the MOH-E account by development partners and managed by the MOH-E; and channel three funds, which are provided off-budget and directly to the health sector at the subnational level. The template will track resources from these channels, including revenue sources such as the treasury, external aid/assistance, and loans, as well as donor partner funds and insurance and out-of-pocket payments. The HS4TB project with the NTP identified existing resource-tracking tools in use by the MOH-E and assessed their ability to track TB resources. The MOH-E uses the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) to keep track of budget utilization and expenditures from the treasury, external assistance, and loans from the MOF (Channel 1). The MOH-E also uses Sage 50 Peachtree accounting software to track grants and other donor resources it receives (Channel 2). Another Excel-based resource-mapping tool is used at the federal level to track external, non-governmental donor resources. However, these tools have limitations and are not sufficient to track TB resources effectively. The TB Resource-Tracking Template is designed to address the limitations of existing tools and provide a comprehensive and accurate tracking of TB resources. The template will be used to track resources from different channels, including channel one funds, channel two funds, and channel three funds. The template will also track resources from other revenue sources, such as the treasury, external aid/assistance, and loans, as well as donor partner funds and insurance and out-of-pocket payments. The template will provide a clear structure for incorporating TB financing in the HFIS tracking, reporting, and system requirements, and will support the NTP to engage with the MOH-E on the design of the HFIS.