On May 2, 2024, our research consortium organized a symposium entitled “Strengthening Social Health Protection in Pakistan – Emerging Evidence and the Way Forward”, held at Khyber Medical University. It served as a significant platform for diverse participants from academia as well as policy and practice to converge and discuss the multifaceted landscape of social health protection research and policy in Pakistan (Symposium program). Symposium program
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Launch of SHPI Research Phase 2024-25
The launch of the SHPI Research Phase 2024-25 on the 26th of February, 2024 was marked by the presence of key program stakeholders involved in the KfW Implementation Research Project. Dr. Zohaib from Khyber Medical University (KMU) set the tone with welcoming remarks, initiating a round of introductions among the attendees.
Continue readingConsultative meeting with SHPI-II stakeholders to prepare next phase of research
On December 14th, 2023, a gathering of the research consortium and program stakeholders in Islamabad, Pakistan, marked a significant step towards preparing for the next phase of our research. The Consultative Meeting on the KFW Implementation Research Project brought together representatives from the Social Health Protection Initiative (SHPI), the German Development Bank (KfW), management4health (M4H), Khyber Medical University (KMU), Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), and Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), united by a common goal: strengthening collaboration for improving healthcare delivery and access, through the upcoming OPC (Outpatient Care) scheme.
Continue readingPopulation panel in Pakistan to prepare for an upcoming in-person data collection
For approximately two weeks, the population panel team convened in Pakistan, to lay the groundwork for the upcoming in-person data collection, of the 4th wave of the household panel. The activities were joined with training and preparations for the 1st wave of the extended household survey by the DEval team.
Continue readingSeven years later: Hospital utilization and financial protection under an established inpatient insurance scheme
Five years ago, our team delved into the impact of the SHPI insurance, which at that time, only covered inpatient care. We were curious about how this insurance affected the healthcare consumption of the poor, and so we conducted a baseline survey in 2015 and a follow-up survey in 2017. Our latest research project takes things further with a phone-based follow-up survey to measure the long-term effects of this established inpatient insurance scheme.
Continue readingDissemination meeting: public provider, private provider, and population panel
On June 16, the research consortium invited the key stakeholders of the SHPI Phase II project to a dissemination workshop of three new policy briefs. The workshop took place online and was a great opportunity for the research team members to present some insights on both the provider as well as the beneficiary side which are relevant for the implementation of the OPD insurance scheme, scheduled to start soon.
Continue readingDr. Matthias Nachtnebel (KfW) visits FAU: Guest lecture about SHPI in Pakistan
On 13th of June 2023, the FAU team was honored to welcome Matthias Nachtnebel (KfW, Health Advisor Asia) in Erlangen. He was invited to give a guest lecture entitled “Social Health Protection Initiative Pakistan: To be or not to be” to students and faculty at the Institute of Economics.
Continue readingProf. Landmann invited to Stanford to talk about SHPI
The Asia Health Policy Program at Stanford invited Professor Andreas Landmann (Principal Investigator of our research team) to give a talk on “Information Barriers to Social Health Protection in Pakistan” at Stanford University. A teaser can be found here. The talk took place on April, 20th 2023 and was streamed as a webinar.
Continue readingDEval grant awarded to team members for rigorous evaluation of OPD scheme
Prof. Landmann and Prof. Helmsmüller from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg have been awarded funding by the German Institute for Development Evaluation (Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit – DEval) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In the project called Impact evaluation of the OPD health insurance in Northern Pakistan, they will conduct a rigorous quantitative measurement of the effects of outpatient health insurance. The funding period runs from March 1, 2023 until September 30, 2025.
German team in Pakistan and preparation of wave 3 of the population panel
Research meetings and training in Islamabad
For two weeks, the population panel team met in Pakistan for intense sessions on preparing an upcoming telephonic data collection as well as refining and piloting further survey tools. Dr. Lisa Rogge and Alina Imping travelled on the 12th of February and were joined in Islamabad by the Khyber Medical University (KMU) colleagues for most of the time. One main purpose of travel was to prepare the third wave of data collection of the population panel. The 3rd wave comprises a telephonic survey entailing re-interviewing the panel households approximately a year after the last in-person interview. The main interest is to evaluate the current health needs, health care utilization and health care expenditure, especially Outpatient Department (OPD) care visits not forgetting neglected health care visits.
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