On the occasion of the first official visit of Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), to The Bahamas, PAHO/WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health hosted an engaging technical breakfast on addressing Universal Health Coverage on Friday July 17th, 2015.
PAHO/WHO Director highlights regional advances to Universal Health Coverage and the importance of The Bahamas' progress towards implementation of National Health Insurance
Nassau, July 17th, 2015 — On the occasion of the first official visit of Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), to The Bahamas, PAHO/WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health hosted an engaging technical breakfast on addressing Universal Health Coverage on Friday July 17th, 2015. The event provided a unique opportunity for key stakeholders to engage in an intimate dialogue with the PAHO Director on the Organization's Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Strategy and the introduction of universal health coverage nationally.
Dr. M. Perry Gomez, Minister of Health, and Dr. Carissa Etienne, PAHO/WHO Director delivered key presentations at the event.
Dr. Gomez opened discussions highlighting The Bahamas government's steps towards the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) on January 2016. He highlighted their assessment of access to care across the spectrum of health services, identified of inefficiencies and inequities in the current system. With nearly 2/3 of the population lacking health insurance and hundreds of thousands of people lacking a social safety net, the implementation of this national scheme has been designed to address the population needs.
The Minister identified 4 pillars "key strategies" being taken to move the country towards implantation of NHI: health system strengthening (inclusive of stronger regulatory and governance structures), registration of entities into the NHI system, elimination of out of pocket payments at point of access of services (in the public and private clinics) and provision for certain financially catastrophic services.
Dr. Etienne underscored that the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) and a health systems strengthening action plan is a step a right direction towards universal access to health and universal health coverage for The Bahamas, stressing that strengthening first level of care has significant benefits in the move toward universal health coverage.
The Director also highlighted that health financing is more than NHI. Reducing inefficiencies and inequities and implementation of a strong health promotion and prevention plan to control non-communicable diseases will be vital in the nation's move towards universal access to health and universal health coverage.
She shared several examples of regional cooperation and resources sharing initiatives that have been utilized to enhance and improve the internal capacity of rural communities, similar to the country's "Family Islands", to adequately respond to local needs. Dr. Etienne continued, stressing the important skillsets that community nurses and nurse practitioners provide and the critical role they play in the implementation of UHC.
The Director closed the session by stating this work is not easy; it takes time and implored the people of The Bahamas to have patience as the government moves forward in this important health reform.
Photo Caption: of Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) participates in dialogue around Universal Health Coverage with Dr. M. Perry Gomez, Minister of Health.
About PAHO/WHO
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency with more than 100 years of experience in working to improve health and living standards of the countries of the Americas. It serves as the specialized organization for health of the Inter-American System. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization and enjoys international recognition as part of the United Nations system.
About PAHO/WHO in The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands
The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) was first established in The Bahamas in 1978 as a sub-regional office of the Jamaica Office. By 1982, it was upgraded to a full Country Office Status.
Since then, an important and healthy relationship has evolved, and although the priorities have shifted, PAHO/WHO has enjoyed a long history of engaging and supporting the Bahamas and Turks Caicos to ensure better health and quality of life of the general population.
