Overview

USAID’s Health Policy Project is a multi-country program that aims to develop in-country capacity on policy issues related to family planning/reproductive health, maternal and child health, HIV and other infectious diseases in developing countries.  In Afghanistan, HPP builds the capacity of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in its stewardship role with respect to the private health sector, and builds and strengthens the MoPH’s capacity in the design, negotiation and management of hospital public-private partnerships (PPPs).  The project builds the capacity of local private sector organizations to partner with the government in the delivery of high-quality health services.  HPP Afghanistan builds on the work of earlier USAID-funded health projects in Afghanistan, including the Health Services Support Project (HSSP).

Activities

• Strengthen the MoPH: The project strengthens the MoPH’s private sector stewardship role and improves the policy environment for effective delivery of health services and products through the private sector.  The project builds the capacity of the MoPH to implement health sector priorities.
• Private Sector: The project builds the capacity of private sector associations and organizations to improve the quality of products and services delivered.
• Social Marketing and Behavior Change Communication: The project delivers social marketing and behavior change communication through the Afghan Social Marketing Organization (ASMO).
• Gender: The project supports the MoPH Gender Directorate’s role in health sector activities.
• HIV/AIDS: The project improves the policy for HIV prevention, care, and treatment by supporting the National AIDS Control Program through the HIV/AIDS Coordinating Committee of Afghanistan.

Accomplishments

• Supported approval of the Private Health Center Regulation Act, an initial step to improving the standards and quality of health care in the private sector.
• Completed a MoPH structural assessment to determine readiness for implementing private sector policy and regulations.
• Established the fully staffed Public Private Partnership Unit within the MoPH to design, negotiate and manage complex hospital PPPs.  The PPP Unit managed the Jumhoriat Hospital feasibility study, completed in July 2012, which assessed the facility’s commercial viability.
• Subsidized the sale of more than 85,000,000 health product units, which include family planning commodities, contraceptives, and other related goods, through 5,298 outlets across the country.
• Supported the MoPH launch of the National HIV Policy and Strategy and continued to support coordination of the HIV national response.
• Built the capacity of the Afghan Social Marketing Organization (ASMO), a locally registered non-governmental organization (NGO), to expand social marketing in Afghanistan.
• Conducted initial Gender Based Violence (GBV) training with public sector health service providers in Kabul district.  This training will be scaled up in select provinces.
• Supported the establishment of a high-level Public-Private Dialogue Forum, which gathers public and private sector stakeholders on a quarterly basis to address urgent challenges and build partnerships.
• Conducted capacity assessments for and delivered tailored capacity building to private sector partners, including the Afghanistan National Medicines Services Organization (ANMSO), Afghanistan Private Hospitals Association (APHA), Organization of Afghan Midwives (OAM), and ASMO.