Barbados needs a sustainable healthcare financing plan, given the significant issues plaguing the sector, says Minister of Health, Senator The Most Honourable Dr Jerome Walcott.
And that plan, he said on Tuesday, could potentially result in the Government broadening the tax system from which healthcare is partially funded.
He made the disclosure on day one of the four-day International Review of Health Financing Reform Options in Barbados at the Hilton Hotel.
During the event, hosted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the Pan American Health Organisation, Minister Walcott said the island’s healthcare system was under strain and there was a need for a sustainable reformative framework.
“ . . . Several challenges still remain. These include an ageing population, with over 13 per cent above the age of 65, an increasing presence of non-communicable diseases, the occurrence of new and reemerging communicable diseases, the rise in injuries due to accidents and unlawful behaviour, the public’s expectations of services on par with industrialised countries and an ageing QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hospital] plant and other health infrastructure.
“In these circumstances, we found the current model of health financing has become a pressing priority due to the increasing cost of public health care services in Barbados caused by a combination of demand and supply side factors,” he said.
The Health Minister said Barbados was committed to achieving universal health services and delivering quality health services, noting that the island had adopted the Beveridge model.
Under that model, he explained, the Government provides health care for all citizens which is financed from the Consolidated Fund and a health levy collected by the National Insurance Scheme.
“Any decline in the revenue intake of Government would be reflected in a reduced allocation to the health sector, hence, an important part of the search for a new model of health financing,” Minister Walcott said.
He added that the Government would consider all options to ensure it can provide quality services, including adjusting the tax collection system.
“There is also a need to strengthen domestic tax systems and ensure that health remains a priority in resources being allocated. This is not a unique role of the health sector; therefore, there is need for a whole-of-government approach to include other sectors and ministries such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the intimate working group we have established to garner support from the other strategic partners both locally and overseas,” he said.
The Health Minister pointed out that the health sector played a significant role in the development of the economy, as it creates jobs, drives productivity, stimulates inclusive growth and protects the economy from the impacts of outbreaks and other emergencies.
That is why, he said, it was important for the island to invest in building a resilient health system based on strong primary health care.
Referencing the World Health Report in 2010, Minister Walcott said that 20 to 40 per cent of global resources allocated to health care were being wasted, noting that the report emphasised the need to promote efficiency.
He said Barbados was taking the necessary steps to ensure it ran its healthcare sector efficiently by engaging the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus in carrying out a study to develop programme unit costs.
Other initiatives to address inefficiencies include significant improvement in the regulatory functions, strategic and effective purchasing of health inputs, comprehensive review and improvement of human practices, and effective separation of regulatory functions from the provisions of services where appropriate.
Barbados is also taking other steps such as strengthening health information systems, reforming the Barbados Drug Service and implementing performance reviews and development systems.
Minister Walcott said that based on additional health financing work conducted last November, there were four key highlights that must inform the development of a proper health finance framework for Barbados.
He said health financing must assist in controlling morbidity; medical services and other service delivery systems must be geared toward the effective utilisation of best practices to ensure efficient use of scarce resources; equity of access must become a reality within the healthcare system as the population must be shielded from catastrophic healthcare expenditure; and resilience must be built into the healthcare system, given prospects of natural disasters and pandemics affecting the Caribbean.
The Health Minister said those events had the potential to cripple the economy and an emergency fund must be developed. (SZB)
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