Health Equity and Performance Improvement Project

closed

The objectives of the Health Equity and Performance Improvement Project for Panama are to: (i) increase access of targeted underserved rural communities to quality basic health services known to improve mother and child health; and (ii) support the development of strategic planning, regulatory, and monitoring mechanisms known to improve health system performance. There are three components to the project. The first component is the ensuring access to primary health care services by the poor in rural areas. The objective of this component is to increase access by targeted underserved communities to basic health services known to improve mother and child health care. This component will use capitation payments as a disbursement mechanism. This component will finance, on a declining basis, capitation payments to health regions to implement Health Protection Program for the Poor and Other Vulnerable Populations (PSPV). The objective of the second component is to increase the capacity of primary health care networks to respond to health care service demand by poor and indigenous rural communities. Finally, the third component will support strengthening the Ministry of Health's (MoH) institutional capacity for strategic planning, management of information, and monitoring results to improve the health system performance with a focus on fostering equitable access to quality health services.