Health Pooled Fund
- Countries
- South Sudan
- Status
- Closed
- Duration
- 2017 – 2023
- Funders
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British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID)
The Government of Canada
The Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA),
USAID
The European Union and Gavi – the Vaccines Alliance - Partner
- South Sudan Ministry of Health
South Sudan has experienced significant levels of fragility, conflict and violence for nearly half a century. It is estimated that over 400,000 lives have been lost since 2013 due to conflict and millions more have been displaced. With limited access to basic health services, it has some of the worst health indicators in the world, with mainly women and children affected.
The Health Pooled Fund (HPF), of which KIT Institute is a consortium partner, is a partnership with South Sudan’s Ministry of Health. It focuses on strengthening the government’s capacity to meet basic needs, supporting around 80% of South Sudan’s health services to provide essential healthcare to approximately 10 million people. The HPF has already had notable successes such as immunising hundreds of thousands of children against childhood diseases and providing family planning to thousands of women.
Operational research & assistance
KIT is responsible for HPF’s operational research and provides technical assistance to the consortium and the NGOs serving as its implementing partners. In doing so, KIT provides better insight into priority areas for intervention, while drawing out contextually relevant, evidence-based lessons for programme enhancement, based on document review, qualitative and mixed methods research methods. Research themes range from analysis of the distrbitution of coverage and utilisation of care through health management information systems and geographic information systems mapping to the political economy of priority-setting of health interventions and local health governance, community health, supportive supervision, mental health and access barriers to care.
HPF has a full-time operations research manager and advisor based in the HPF office in Juba, South Sudan, and an overal HPF programme manager based at KIT in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is supported by short-term technical assistance and research advisory services from a pool of researchers, specialised in areas ranging from health systems strengthening and sexual and reproductive health and rights to epidemiology and disease control, that is drawn upon when needed.
The Boma Health Initiative
In March 2017, the Ministry of Health launched the Boma Health Initiative (BHI), a community health system strengthening initiative intended to bridge the gap between health facilities and communities, increasing equitable access to community health services, and the participation of communities in their ownership and sustainability.
As the BHI was new and lacking documented evidence of its practice, KIT’s operational research experts undertook a study to guide its implementation. The HPF programme is using the study’s findings to enhance community engagement and to improve health outcomes across the country. The study revealed that the majority of the barriers to effective implementation were the result of insufficient coordination between the different implementing organisations, health authorities and funders. Community members are happy to participate in the implementation of health initiatives that will benefit them, and community health programmes of any kind can thrive when community members are engaged in every step of the implementation process.
If the BHI strategy is going to be effectively implemented, robust coordination efforts are required to build connections and cooperation among stakeholders. But it is clear that community health programmes can be successfully implemented, even in conflict situations, if local human resources are leveraged, engaged, and nurtured.
Publications
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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare access and utilisation in South Sudan: a cross-sectional mixed methods study
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Research article
Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities in fragile and conflict-affected settings may be severe due to reduced access and use of healthcare, as happened during the 2015 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak. Achieving a balance between short-term emergency response and addressing long-term health needs is particularly challenging in fragile and conflict-affected settings such as […]
- Year of publication
- 2022
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Access to and utilisation of healthcare services in three states supported by the Health Pooled Fund in South Sudan: a mixed methods study
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Report
Accessing and using healthcare service remains a challenge for South Sudanese people, with geographic coverage estimates varying from 29% to 44% of the population living within 5km of a healthcare facility (Integrity Global, 2018; Macharia, Odera, Snow, & Noor, 2017; Ministry of Health, 2015b). Even reaching a health facility, however, does not guarantee access to […]
- Year of publication
- 2022
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The political economy of priority-setting for health in South Sudan: a case study of the health pooled fund
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Research article
In fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS) such as South Sudan, where health needs are immense, resources are scarce, health infrastructure is rudimentary or damaged, and government stewardship is weak, adequate health intervention priority-setting is especially important. There is a scarcity of research examining priority-setting in FCAS and the related political economy. Yet, capturing these dynamics […]
- Year of publication
- 2022
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Study report: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Direct and Indirect Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Utilization in South Sudan
The priority-setting process in the context of the Health Pooled Fund (HPF) is challenged by data limitations, minimal stewardship of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and competing interests among donors, HPF management, MoH, local authorities and implementing partners. A study was initiated to analyse the priority-setting occurring at the national and local level of the […]
- Year of publication
- 2021
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Policy Brief: Community Health Interventions in South Sudan
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Policy Brief
Despite the conflict in South Sudan, community health programmes such as integrated community case management for communicable diseases and neglected tropical diseases have been successful. The Health Pooled Fund (HPF) is now the single largest provider of life-saving healthcare in 80 per cent of the country, supporting at least 800 health facilities. KIT, a consortium […]
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Policy Brief: Priority Setting of Health Interventions in the Context of the Health Pooled Fund in South Sudan
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Policy Brief
The priority-setting process in the context of the Health Pooled Fund (HPF) is challenged by data limitations, minimal stewardship of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and competing interests among donors, HPF management, MoH, local authorities and implementing partners. A study was initiated to analyse the priority-setting occurring at the national and local level of the […]
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Monitoring the Utilisation of Primary Care Services in Health Pooled Fund Supported Counties in South Sudan
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Research article
KIT was tasked to analyse and report on utilisation of primary health care services in Health Pooled Fund supported geographical areas in South Sudan. The main objective of this assessment was to identify spatial and temporal trends of service utilisation that could be indicative of limitations in access to healthcare. Facility-based and community-based primary care […]
- Year of publication
- 2020
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Access to Health Care in South Sudan: A Qualitative Analysis of Health Pooled Fund supported counties
Study Report Access and use of health services remain limited in South Sudan. It is estimated that only 44% of the population in South Sudan live within reach of health facilities and have consistent access to primary care services. This study was undertaken to investigate access to and utilisation of health care services in the […]
- Year of publication
- 2020