Non-state actors have the potential to contribute to governing quality—providing technical inputs on policy development, monitoring health service delivery, and promoting accountability in the health system—but they are often not well engaged or effectively involved in achieving the national health agenda. As steward of the health sector, the government may use several instruments and strategies to engage the non-state actors, including policy and dialogue, information exchange, regulation, finance and production of health resources. The government can also promote self-regulation and accountability in the health sector to ensure delivery of quality care.

USAID’s Health Finance and Governance project and the Joint Learning Network hosted a webinar on Wednesday, May 3rd, on engaging non-state actors in governing quality of care. Speakers presented global lessons learned and cases from several countries, including Ghana, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Resources:

• Presentation Slides →
• Blog Post →
• Webinar Recording:

Dr. Carlos Cuéllar, a Vice President and Senior Fellow at Abt Associates, is currently the Chief of Party for USAID’s Jordan Communication, Advocacy and Policy project. Prior to this role, Dr. Cuéllar served as Portfolio Manager of the Clinical HIV/AIDS Services Strengthening project in Mozambique. He joined Abt Associates in January 2001 working as Chief of Party for the  Primary Health Care Initiatives and the Health Systems Strengthening projects in Jordan. From 2009-2012, he worked as Chief of Party of the Maternal & Child Centers of Excellence project in the Dominican Republic. Prior to joining Abt Associates, Dr. Cuéllar was co-founder and Executive Director of PROSALUD, a Bolivian NGO, and worked as Deputy Director of the Commercial Market Strategies project. Carlos Cuéllar holds an M.D. from the Catholic University of Cordoba, Argentina, an MPH and a Diploma on Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, Belgium, and a Diploma in Management from NUR University, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Paulina Pacheco Estrello is currently Director at the General Directorate for Quality of Health Care and Education (DGCES), within Mexico’s Ministry of Health. She is in charge of the Interinstitutional Entailment and Follow-up to the International Agenda of Quality in Healthcare. Ms. Pacheco has fifteen years of experience in the health sector. In the realm of public administration, she has served as Division Head at the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) and was Director of Equity Analysis at the Economic Analysis Unit of the Ministry of Health (MoH). She holds a degree in Administration with specialization in Strategy from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a Master in Public Policy from the Universidad Iberoamerican). She also has expertise on social security for Spanish-speaking countries by the Postgraduate Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and on evaluation of social programs by the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE).

Dr. Raul M. Quillamor is the Head Executive Staff in the Office of the Chairperson/Secretary of Health at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). Dr. Quillamor is also an Adviser in the Technical Working Group on Life Stage Package for the Pregnant Woman for the Department of Health/PhilHealth, Vice President of the Philippine Society for Responsible Parenthood, and an Auditor for the Academy of Medicine of the Philippines. He is Chair of the Department of OB-GYN at the College of Medicine, University of the East – Ramon Magsaysay (UERM) and heads the Office of Professional Education and Training at the UERM Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC) Department of OB-GYN. Dr. Quillamor has held the role of president of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, the Perinatal Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, and the Philippine Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He received his MD at UERMMMC’s College of Medicine and completed his residency in OB-GYN at UERMMMC. He completed subspeciality Fellowships in both Maternal-Fetal Medicine at UP-PHG and in Pelvic Ultrasound at Amagasaki Prefectural Hospital in Kobe, Japan. Dr. Quillamor was a Research Fellow in Endometrial Flow Cytometry and Electron Microscopy at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Michigan, and participated in a Postgraduate Course in Maternal Nutrition at Stanford University.

Nathaniel Otoo, former Chief Executive of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), is currently an independent consultant. Mr. Otoo has expertise in risk protection, social security, Universal Health Coverage, and public sector reforms. At the NHIA, he was instrumental in the review of the NHIS enabling law which now addresses the administrative and legal challenges of the previous statute, including the transformation of the District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes to a National Health Insurance Scheme. Before entering the health financing sphere, Mr Otoo worked for over 20 years across the social security, manufacturing, and trade promotion sectors. He holds a Masters’ in International Relations from the International University of Japan, a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ghana and a professional qualification in law from the Ghana School of Law. He is also a member of the Joint Learning Network.

Dr. Leizel P. Lagrada-Rombaua is the former Head Executive Staff and Group Vice-President (Officer-in-Change) at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth (2013-2014) with prior appointment as Senior Manager (OIC) for Accreditation Department and Standards and Monitoring Department (2012-2013). Dr. Lagrada-Rombaua started her career as a Municipal Health Officer in Palawan, Philippines administering rural health services in a variety of roles. Currently she is supporting the Joint Learning Network as an independent consultant through Results for Development. She holds an MD, PhD, and MPH.