A workshop on health financing was held in April 2014 in Mozambique, with technical inputs from the WHO, the World Bank and USAID. Participants and presenters included technicians from the Ministry of Health and focal points from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Planning. The main objective was to share the basic concepts of health financing, and to spark partners’ interest to participate in the process. A road map for a health financing strategy (HFS) development process was agreed upon.
The health financing strategy follows the approval of the health sector strategic plan 2014-2016 with a health reforms component, including on health financing. The HFS will provide answers on how to finance the health sector for the coming years, looking at other financing mechanisms and will be used for sector budget discussions with the Ministry of Finance. Currently all health services are free and the policy discussion could help address how people could contribute and how prepayment mechanisms could be set up.
A HFS road map is being implemented by the SWAP working group, where the key stakeholders for the process participate. The working group meets every two weeks, discussing the analytical work in process, such as evidence-based studies to inform health financing policy. A study on new domestic revenue raising mechanisms is being prepared, and at an upcoming workshop in October the preliminary results of the national health accounts, national AIDS spending assessment, and the investment case for health will be presented.