Strategic Purchasing for Family Planning and Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Services (SP4FP+MNCH)

Through funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), HSCL is implementing a 5-year support to Lagos, Bauchi and Yobe States for the operationalisation of their States’ health insurance scheme. The project will also strengthen the strategic purchasing of a benefit package that fully integrates family planning (FP) and maternal new-born and child health (MNCH) services.

HSCL has so far supported the Lagos State Government (LASG) to achieve the following milestones:

Increasing Demand Creation for Health Insurance in Lagos

The SP4FP project supported the development of a communication strategy for Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) and adaptation of contextualized messages for the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS). The project further supported the development of radio jingles for the LSHS in different languages - English, Yoruba, and Pidgin and these jingles have been running on Bond FM, Nigeria Info, and Traffic radio since January 2020.

FP/MNCH Integration with Lagos State Health Insurance Package

As a first step towards full integration, HSCL through the SP4FP project, facilitated the development of a concept note for the integration of the full complement of FP/MNCH services into the LSHS benefit package. Success was achieved through consultations with key stakeholders from government, implementing partners, and relevant health professional associations, amongst others. LASHMA has commenced the implementation of some of the agreed activities including FP service readiness, classification of empanelled providers, and development of referral networks.

Enhancing Provider Readiness in Lagos

HSCL has been supporting LASHMA to train empanelled 67 private and 28 public sector providers on the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS). The trainings are aimed primarily at enhancing private sector provider readiness and optimal participation, also introduces the FP/MNCH integration roadmap.

Development of Consolidated Technical Assistance (TA) Plans for Government Agencies in Lagos, Bauchi and Yobe States

To reduce overlap in the support provided by different partners and improve efficiency, HSCL facilitated the development of a consolidated TA plan for Lagos Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA).
Engagement with other partners in the state helped identify their areas of support which was then pooled together into a common TA plan for the agency. The plan which was signed off by the management of HEFAMAA is helping them improve partner coordination and funds efficiency and reprogramming where there are overlaps, to underfunded priorities.

The Bauchi and Yobe state health insurance scheme is relatively new with the Bauchi State Contributory Health Management Agency (BASCHMA) and Yobe State Contributory Health Management established in 2018 and 2019, respectively. HSCL provided technical assistance to BASCHMA and YOSCHMA to scope technical assistance needs towards the design and roll-out of their health insurance schemes.
The resultant consolidated TA plan for the agencies from this scoping exercise now serves as a benchmark for the assignment of TA roles to partners supporting strategic purchasing in the state. This support has helped the agencies with a system view of its needs, available resources, and the capacity to optimize partners’ support.

Landscape Assessment of Quality Assurance/ Quality Improvement (QA/QI) in Lagos State

The SP4FP Project has provided support for HEFAMAA in conducting a state-wide review of current mechanisms, tools, and methodologies for QA and QI being utilized by the government, implementing partners, and other stakeholders in Lagos State. This landscape assessment report once validated, will pave the way for consultations with relevant stakeholders to secure buy-in for the development of a consolidated QA/QI system for the state.

Finalization of the Lagos State Health Scheme Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan

HSCL provided technical assistance to LASHMA to review, finalize and validate the draft M&E plan for the LSHS. Support provided by the HSCL SP4FP team includes the development of a conceptual framework for evaluation of the scheme, definition of key metrics, and an indicator reference sheet. The LSHS M&E plan has been validated with relevant stakeholders and adopted for use by LASHMA.