Background
The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Kuwait has requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide support to strengthening its capacity to use health economics and financing tools and approaches to inform the design, planning, implementation, and evaluation of health financing reforms, including efficient and sustainable use of resources. A health financing expert, Henrik Axelson, has been engaged as a WHO consultant to support the program through remote support and in-country visits in December 2021 – May 2022.
There are three components of the health economics and financing support to Kuwait. The first component is a detailed review of the health financing system in Kuwait based on the different functions of health financing. This review will help to identify key areas of health financing policy which need to be addressed to make progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) and will highlight priority areas for further analysis, technical support, and collaboration. The second component is support to the MOH in the creation of a Health Economics and Financing Unit (HEFU) in the MOH, based on a comprehensive understanding of MOH needs, health financing system, gaps, and opportunities. The third component is capacity building of MOH and other key stakeholders across the government and external partners on health economics and financing, based on an assessment of needs, existing capacity, and remaining gaps.
First mission to Kuwait, December 2021
A first mission to Kuwait was carried out on 12-16 December 2021. The mission included the following members:
Dr. Faraz Khaled, Technical Officer, Coordination for UHC, Health System Department, EMRO
Mr. Henrik Axelson, WHO Consultant
Ms. Batoul Dawi, Public Health Specialist, WCO
Overall guidance was provided by Dr. Assad Hafeez, WHO Representative Kuwait. Administrative support was provided by Ms. Rania Riad, Acting Administrative Officer, WCO.
The WHO team delivered a presentation that described the activities carried out during the mission, offered some initial observations related to the three components of the support, and suggested next steps. The presentation was based on meetings with stakeholders and initial consultation of key documents. The presentation slides are provided in the attachment.
