Health Sector Reform

USAID helps the Ministry of Health to expand efforts to transfer the responsibility and the funds of the health care system from the central government to the local government and organizations.  In this process, called decentralization, USAID helps local governments and organizations to strengthen community involvement in delivery of health services, and encourages alliances to leverage scarce resources. It then becomes the local government’s responsibility to monitor the services provided.  The Ministry of Health continues to pay for the services so these are provided free of charge to the population, yet Ministry of Health becomes more of a service regulator instead of a service provider.

The decentralization of health services gives the local governments more control over the services provided.  It also allows local governments to perform functions, such as the purchase of medications, which were traditionally done by the central government.  This ensures that medication in the health centers is permanently available. Decentralization not only empowers local communities to make their own decisions, but also leads to more efficient use of resources.

Decentralization efforts include supporting the Ministry of Health to create planning and regulation tools to ensure high quality services and that these services are provided according to the norms.