The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government formally launched free Outpatient Department (OPD) services under the Sehat Card Plus program on February 19, 2025, which marks an important milestone for our research consortium.
Continue readingContent
Bridging Healthcare Gaps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Insights from a recent publication
For our research, understanding the barriers that prevent equitable access to healthcare is crucial. A recent study, conducted as part of our collaborative research consortium, sheds light on the challenges faced by the poorest communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, especially regarding primary healthcare access. In October 2024, the study was published in the International Journal of Equity in Health, a renowned and peer-reviewed public health journal.
Continue readingA Step Forward – Contract for OPD Pilot Project Signed with SLIC
On October 24, 2024, the Social Health Protection (SHP) Program, KfW Development Bank, and State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLIC) formalised their collaboration with the signing of a contract to launch the Outpatient Department (OPD) Pilot Project. This event marks a critical step in a long period of preparation and negotiation and the official beginning of this important initiative.
Continue readingNew evidence on changes in outpatient-care utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
The most recent wave of the household panel survey which is organised by the population panel working group of our research consortium provides interesting new insights on rising healthcare costs and how they impacted health care utilization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan.
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 readingPopulation panel: Phone survey on children & adolescents health completed
Following the first wave of in-person data collection which finished in March, the population panel group successfully implemented a quick follow-up phone survey on health care of children and adolescents. The data collection took place between April 15th and April 29th via phone with the professional support of I.C.U. Healthcare and represents the first phone survey conducted by the research consortium for the SHPI Phase 2.
Continue readingFAU and KMU sign MoU with the Social Health Protection Initiative
During their stay in Pakistan, the team members of our research consortium had the opportunity to meet the major key stakeholders from the project at the stakeholder meeting that took place in Bhurban on November 20th. On the occasion, Khyber Medical University (KMU) and Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Social Health Protection Initiative (SHPI) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province to enable the conduct of the research study. As presented here, the study will provide scientific evidence for the implementation of the SHPI and the extension of the SHPI to outpatient care services (OPD) in four pilot districts of the province.
Continue readingNewly published in the Geneva Risk and Insurance Review: Does free hospitalization insurance change health care consumption of the poor? Short-term evidence from Pakistan
We are excited to see our paper published – online for now, but hopefully soon in the special issues “Risk Considerations and Insurance in Developing Countries”. In the paper, Prof. Dr. Andreas Landmann and Dr. Simona Helmsmüller study the effect of free hospitalization insurance on inpatient care consumption patterns. This was part of Phase 1 of the ongoing Social Health Protection Initiative (SHPI), which aimed at reducing financial barriers and increasing access of the poor to health services in selected districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) area through provision of free insurance coverage for inpatient health services (IPD). The program, which was launched in December 2015 in four pilot districts and then extended province-wide, covers the poorest 21% of households in the area through the delivery of insurance cards at fully subsidized rates.
Continue reading