Skip navigation

2009 Regional Ministerial Meeting
on “Financing Strategies for Health Care”

16-18 March 2009
Colombo, Sri Lanka

PROGRAMME

16 March 2009
8:00 a.m.

Registration

  Opening Session
9:00 a.m.

Welcoming remarks:

 

H.E. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka

9:10 a.m.

Address by H.E. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, Sri Lanka

 

Keynote address:

 

H.E. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake,  Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

 

Opening remarks:

9:35 a.m.

H.E. Ambassador Hamidon Ali, VicePresident, United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

9:45 a.m. Mr. Thomas Steltzer, Assistant-Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
9:55 a.m.

Dr. Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Deputy Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)

10:05 a.m.

Tea Break

  Session I: Financing strategies for health care
11:05 a.m. Statement by Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (UNESCAP) (delivered by Ms. Thelma Kay, Chief, Social Development Division, UNESCAP)

11:15 a.m.

Panel 1: Domestic financing for health care

  Moderator: Professor Weligamage D. Lakshman, Professor of Economics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
 

Panelists:

 

Dr. Rashid Jooma, Director General, Ministry of Health, Pakistan

 

H.E. Mrs. Tsolmon Jadamba, Vice-Minister of Health, Mongolia

  Dr. David B. Evans, Director, Department of Health Systems Financing, World Health Organization (WHO)
 

For discussion:

 
  • What are the trends in the region regarding levels and sources of domestic financing?
  • What strategies and policies can governments implement to raise adequate funds for national health systems?
  • What mechanisms can be employed to pool risk?
  • What actions can be taken by governments to ensure the equitable and efficient provision of service?
  • How are countries coping with the impact of financial crisis on financing of healthcare?
  • How can public-private partnerships, domestic NGOs and local communities best complement national efforts to provide quality primary health care to all?
1:15 p.m. Lunch break
2:15 p.m. Panel 2: External financing for health care
  Moderator: Dr. David B. Evans, Director, Department of Health Systems Financing (HSF), World Health Organization (WHO)
  Panelists:
  Mr. Shinichi Asazuma, Senior Coordinator, Global Issues Cooperation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
 

Dr. Ravindra P. Rannan-Eliya, Director & Fellow, Institute for Health Policy, Colombo

  Ms. Ursula Schäfer-Preuss, Vice President, Asian Development Bank
  Mr. Pablo Gottret, Lead Economist, Human Development Sector Unit, South Asia Region, World Bank
  Dr. Jorge Bermudez, Executive Secretary, UNITAID
  Mr. Simon Wright, Project Manager, Action for Global Health, Brussels
 

For discussion:

 
  • What are the trends in the region regarding sources, quantity and quality of foreign aid for health?
  • How can governments ensure that inflows of external funds support the development of the domestic financing system and institutions, rather than weaken it? What is the impact of vertical funds on national health systems?
  • What is the impact of the current financial crisis on global funding for health care? How should it be addressed?
  Session II: Health systems in crisis situations
4:15 p.m.

Panel 3: Challenges for health systems in countries in or following crisis

  Moderator: Dr. Poonam Singh, Deputy Regional Director, Regional Office for South-East Asia, WHO
 

Panelists:

  Dr. H. A. P. Kahandaliyanage, Secretary, Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, Sri Lanka
  Dr. Ahmad Jan Naeem, Acting General Director, Policy and Planning, Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan
  Mr. Nicholas Rosellini, Deputy Regional Director, United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP), Bangkok, Thailand
  Dr. Roderico Ofrin, Regional Adviser, Emergency and Humanitarian Action, WHO Regional office , New Delhi
  Mr. Chinnaswamy Kumar, Technical Support Coordinator – Micro Insurance, CARE India
  For discussion:
 
  • What actions can governments take to prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis, specifically with regard to health systems?
  • How effective have humanitarian actors been in providing emergency assistance to meet urgent health needs and support health systems, in terms of capacity, predictability, effectiveness and accountability?
  • To what extent have emergency funding mechanisms met demand and expectations? How can they be improved?
6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourns

7:30 p.m.

Leave Cinnamon Grand Hotel to Mount Lavinia 

8:00 pm Dinner Hosted by H.E Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka, at the Mount Lavinia Hotel
   
17 March 2009
  Session III: Initiatives and recommendations
9:00 a.m.

Presentations of best practices and new initiatives to finance health care

  Chair: Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Deputy Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
  Presentations by:
  United Nations agencies, governments, NGOs, corporations, foundations,
  Mr. Kewal Handa, Managing Director, Pfizer India
 

Mr. Robert Filipp, Head Innovative Financing, The Global Fund

  Dr. Thomas Teuscher, Coordinator for Policy, Strategies and Governance, RollBackMalaria Partnership, Geneva
  Dr. David B. Evans, Director, Health Systems Financing, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva
  Dr. Sania Nishtar, President and CEO, Heartfile, Pakistan
  Dr. Ravindra P. Rannan-Eliya, Director & Fellow, Institute for Health Policy, Colombo
  Prof. Hasbullah Thabrany, Director, Institute for Social Security, University of Indonesia, Indonesia [book in pdf]
  Dr. Kiyotaka Segami, Executive Board-Director, Welfare and Medical Service Agency (WAM), Japan

10:30 a.m.

Discussion on key messages to be delivered to the Economic and Social Council and next steps to be taken in the region

  Chair: H.E. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, Sri Lanka
  Reports from Moderators:
  Professor Weligamage D. Lakshman, Professor of Economics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
  Dr. David B. Evans, Director, Department of Health Systems Financing (WHO)
  Dr. Poonam Singh, Deputy Regional Director, SEARO, WHO
  Session IV: Progress in MDGs
11:30 a.m.

Panel 4: Progress and Challenges in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

  Moderator: Dr. Aminath Jameel, Minister of  Health and Family, Maldives (TBC)
  Panelists:
  Mr H M Gunasekera, Director National  Planning, Ministry of Finance and Planning
  H.E. Mr. Abdalmahmood Abdalhleem Mohamad, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the UN ( Chair of the Group of 77 and China)
  Ms. Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
  Mr. Bernard Savage, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives
 

For discussion:

 
  • What actions governments have taken to promote MDGs
  • The progress government s have made
  • What are the impediments and challenges to achieve the MDGs
 

Closing Statements:

12:30 p.m. Mr. Thomas Steltzer, Assistant-Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
  H.E. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka
1:00 p.m.

Meeting adjourns/Lunch

 

Press Conference to follow immediately after the adjournment of the Conference (on invitation only)

 

Field visit to Kandy

 

FROM GLOBAL COMMITMENT TO NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION