With support from the Inclusive Development Hub of USAID’s Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) and funding from the Leahy War Victim’s Fund, the Accelerator has partnered with the WHO to develop a knowledge product on “Rehabilitation in Health Financing”. The knowledge product will analyze options for financing rehabilitation in different health systems contexts and provide practical recommendations about financing approaches to equitably and efficiently scaling up rehabilitative services.
To integrate country experiences into the development of this knowledge product, the Accelerator and WHO are hosting a three-part regional webinar series for selected countries in four WHO regions: Europe & Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia & Western Pacific. The webinars will create regional platforms for global and local rehabilitation and health financing leaders to discuss how to finance rehabilitation within country-level UHC mechanisms. Over the course of the series, participants will review existing evidence, validate promising approaches, and co-develop a set of recommendations for the knowledge product.
The first round of webinars kicks off on Wednesday, July 14 with EURO/EMRO countries including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. The webinar will introduce participants to a descriptive analysis of how rehabilitation is financed in different contexts. Select country teams will be invited to present on their respective financing contexts, sharing information about their countries’ rehabilitation needs and the strengths and challenges of their health financing systems. Webinar participants will reflect upon shared experiences and begin discussing practical solutions. On July 15, the Accelerator will convene SEARO/WPRO countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Republic of Korea, Solomon Islands, and Sri Lanka.
Ageing populations, the rise of non-communicable diseases, and conflict-induced injuries continue to increase the global unmet need for affordable rehabilitation services. Yet rehabilitation is often under-prioritized in countries’ health systems and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) strategies, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative (Rehab 2030) led by the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling attention to this treatment gap and has called for global action by all stakeholders. There is a particular need to inform policymakers about effective strategies for strengthening health financing systems to respond to rehabilitation needs and to equip them with practical solutions to common challenges in designing and operationalizing such strategies.
Learn more about the webinar series here.
