SDI has been engaged by Abt associates, the implementers of the Local Health Systems Sustainability Project (LHSS) under the USAID Integrated Health Systems Project. The broad objective of this engagement is to strengthen the local health system’s capacity to improve community engagement on Health Insurance, increase health insurance coverage, and strengthen Public Financial Management by increasing collaboration between CSOs the State Health Insurance Agencies, State Primary Health Care Development Boards, State Ministries of Health and other non-health sector Agencies.

Specific Objectives of this grant include:

1. Strengthen the capacity of CSOs to work with state government employees in building awareness of state social health insurance schemes, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), and state equity health funds to increase demand for health services and improve enrollment in social health insurance schemes for poor and vulnerable people.
2. Support CSOs to work with State Health Insurance Agencies (SHIAs) to increase SHIA’s capacity to improve financial protection for poor and vulnerable people by reducing barriers to enrolling in state health insurance agencies for the formal and informal sectors.
3. To increase access to health services by strengthening the state government’s capacity to include new and maintain current public and private health facilities in state health insurance networks.
4. To strengthen public financial management and conduct budget advocacy to ensure prompt releases of allocated funds to state health insurance agencies and state primary health care boards.
5. Strengthen the technical capacity of CSOs to effectively support the local health systems through improved community engagement on health insurance, increased health insurance coverage, and strengthening public financial management by working collaboratively with state health insurance agencies.

SDI aims to achieve the following in the implementation of this project in Zamfara and Plateau States:

1. Increased population coverage in State Social Health Protection programs
2. Increased health coverage of the poor and vulnerable through financial risk protection schemes
3. Improved state health equity fund releases Increased releases for annual operational plan (AOP) activities
4. Regular budget tracking and expenditure analysis report
5. Increased State Government capacity to enroll citizens in state health insurance schemes
6. Increased capacity of State Government to add new facilities to state health insurance schemes