Since 2015, the Social Health Protection Initiative (SHPI) aims at increasing access of the poor to health services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) in Pakistan. The KfW-financed project removes financial barriers by providing a subsidized health insurance. Phase 1 extended insurance for the poorest 21% of the population covering inpatient services in selected public and private hospitals. Phase 2 is now extending coverage to include outpatient services (OPD). KfW selected the research consortium consisting of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, and Khyber Medical University, to provide evidence in support of the implementation. The research component covers 1) preparatory studies in support of the design of the scheme, 2) implementation research throughout the project cycle, 3) outcome and impact evaluation, and 4) additional research on out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures for inpatient care services (IPD) under Phase 1.
Source of funding: KfW
Project period: August 2021 – August 2023 (initially)
Beteiligte Forscherinnen und Forscher (Principal Investigators): Andreas Landmann (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Zohaib Khan (Khyber Medical University), Manuela De Allegri (Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Medizinische Fakultät der Universität Heidelberg)