Many of the Small Island States are struggling to meet the demands for and cost of health services. Inevitably, the solution lies around new models of financing and improvements to operations that address waste and inefficiencies e.g. the need for new performance management systems, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and the re-engineering of material management systems, to name a few.
We have healthcare establishments that are irrelevant to the skills and competencies required to support the disease profile. In addition, the need to embrace new health technologies including the Health Information Systems (inclusive of the Electronic Medical Records and other ICT modalities such as telemedicine solutions are prohibitively capital intensive and outside the financial reach of most countries, but a necessary imperative if we are to address the seamless movement of patients across the healthcare continuum.
Can the Bank shed some light on whether it is considering or has considered a new set of financing priorities and instruments, perhaps in collaboration with PAHO/WHO and other development agencies, that addresses the above key challenges in support of the attainment of Universal Health Coverage and the implementation of a new wave of health sector reforms?

What incentives can be promoted internally to enhance synergy between WB and IFC?

Coordinating the health partners' support, timeliness and effectiveness has been always a challenge. On the partnership side, what is the key lesson learnt from the recent WBG support to global pandemic such as the Ebola crisis in Africa?

The IEG preasentation suggests that the approach to universal health coverage is more supply side, with much less focus on demand side efforts. But we know from decades of research that even when services are available, demand factors arising from cultural, social or other aspects of people’s lives can prevent the most disadvantaged groups from actually using available services; young and adolescent women and girls, and indigenous populations are two examples. What efforts are planned to address demand side barriers so that universal coverage or access translates into universal use of services?

There are people who work as Temporary at the Bank for more than a year. And these people are not given health insurance in their contract. I believe it's NOT safe to the Bank nor to the person. Have you considered offering them a better health related option? I would recommend some measures to be put in place at least for the emergency cases.