Public Health Financing : Stakeholders to validate 2020 Performance Report

Public health experts of the Project Monitoring Technical Committee for the evaluation of the Performance Based Financing (PBF) in Cameroon began meeting in Yaounde on June 22 to evaluate the 2020 performance report.

The meetings that will run from June 22-25, are chaired by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Health, Professor Louis Richard Njock.

The Cameroon-World Bank sponsored project is coordinated by a follow up committee from the Ministry of Finance, the World Bank and the civil society.

Among the salient issues discussed is payment of debts to some health facilities. In 2020, multiple contingencies resulted in payment delays of subsidies, but in the second half of the year, the project successfully paid out nearly FCFA 10 billion as subsidies.

Six months later, authorities say they are working to clear off outstanding debts owed to health facilities latest July 15, 2021. Notwithstanding, the project has so far paid 80% of outstanding debts to health facilities.

What is the Performance-Based Financing (PBF)

The PBF Approach is designed to reform the health system. It focuses on providing quantitative and qualitative health care services to the population, especially the poor and vulnerable. The project also takes particular interest in reproductive health, maternal, newborn, while children and adolescents are also areas.

Health experts in Cameroon are using the PBF approach to ensure quality health care, efficient use of resources and to facilitate access to health care for all persons.

PBF sucess list

Thanks to the PBF, hospital visits in most health facilities in the North region have increased; from, 22% to about 45%. The acquisition of new hospital equipment and recruitment of qualified health care givers has led to a rise in the number of women in the North Region who now have their babies in the hospitals. Public Health authorities in the region say routine vaccination in these hospitals has also moved from 40% to almost 70%.

Cameroon’s government launched the PBF project in 2009. The first phase of the project was implemented in 26 health districts in the East, Littoral, North West and South West regions, reaching out to approximately 3 million persons.The government then decided to extend the project to health facilities in the country’s 10 regions.

Beyond providing funds to health facilities, PBF passes for an opportunity to facilitate Cameroon’s Universal Health Coverage plan.

Kathy Neba Sina 

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