Panama’s long-term health challenges, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic that threatened the health system’s financial sustainability, led Panama's Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud, MINSA) to request technical assistance from the World Bank. With support from the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Country Program funded by the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD), the World Bank conducted analytical work and worked with MINSA to strengthen the financial protection and institutional integration of the national health sector towards universal health coverage (UHC) and to mitigate the disruption of the primary health care services due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project developed recommendations for a health finance strategy and for the coordination of service delivery networks; identified technological innovations for pharmaceutical management and regulation, including electronic prescription systems and electronic pharmaceutical supply chain management systems; and supported essential health services in light of COVID-19, including policy options for integrated service delivery networks and for maintaining rural primary health care during the pandemic.
Learning from Japan's Experience
To strengthen primary health care services after the pandemic, focusing on telemedicine, the project conducted a detailed assessment of the performance of the primary health care system. MINSA prioritized several programs, including the use of telemedicine to establish stronger bonds between primary health care physicians and patients, as well as between primary health care and higher levels of care. With support from international experts, especially from Japan and Argentina, and in collaboration with Japan's Ministry of Health, Work and Wellbeing, the program produced a report and a seminar on telemedicine, contributing to knowledge sharing and new policy insights for Panama.
Results Achieved
Panama’s health sector greatly benefitted from the program's focus on generating knowledge, particularly in the area of policy development. The health financing and the primary health care analyses—a priority for MINSA—translated into a series of evidence-based recommendations that were discussed with the government at various stages and prioritized jointly with multiple stakeholders and MINSA. Examples of recommendations include promoting joined planning between MINSA and the social security authority (Caja de Seguro Social), strengthening proactive population outreach and health promotion, improving data availability and use for monitoring and evaluation, and establishing a strategic framework for the regulation of prices of medicines and piloting performance-based budgeting.
The studies and the technical support for the telemedicine program were also critical inputs to the Bank-financed Panama COVID-19 Emergency Response Project and helped advance the dialogue with the government and international partners. As a result, Panama became the first country to officially join the Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas, a joint initiative of the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), under which, the agencies and MINSA are preparing joint plans for further technical and financial assistance to the health sector.
In addition to analytical work, the World Bank has helped Panama strengthen its health system through the Panama COVID-19 Emergency Response Project. The latter increased the country's laboratory and critical care capacity by procuring COVID-19 diagnostic equipment for 14 laboratories and fully equipping 9 intensive and intermediate care units. The project contributed to the vaccination of 84% of the population for COVID-19 through procurement of vaccines. In addition, the project supported the equipment and training of 25 primary health centers and 6 hospitals to provide teleconsultations in a network approach. Through the PHRD funds, the World Bank provided critical technical assistance to MINSA’s national and regional teams to assist the first phase of the telemedicine pilot, which is expected to reach up to 623,000 Panamanians.
The analytical work of this PHRD UHC Country Program also complemented other World Bank health sector operations in Panama, including Support for the National Indigenous Peoples Development Plan, as well as informed the Panama Country Partnership Framework for the period FY24–FY28.
Panama PHRD UHC Country Program grant analytical work to mitigate the disruption of primary health care services due to the COVID-19 pandemic
