On March 25, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Libya Public Financial Management (LPFM) project conducted a workshop on the Operational Plan for primary healthcare in Misrata for participants from the municipalities of Surman and Tajoura, which are among the project’s 12 targeted pilot municipalities. The plan aims to improve the efficiency of the delivery of a basic health service package, and to give the municipality operational and supervisory roles in the management of primary healthcare services. It also outlines primary healthcare coverage standards and performance improvement indicators to improve the cost efficiency of the proposed package, as well as a Public Investment Plan for primary healthcare services.
Discussions of the first phase of the Operational Plan during the workshop included ways in which municipality staff and regional health directorate staff should collect and document data on primary health services delivered in the selected primary healthcare clinics. The workshop also addressed how to determine infrastructure readiness, monitor medicine and medical supplies, authenticate services provided, and classify patient data. LPFM also presented how adjustments were made to include suggested basic COVID-19 treatment at the primary healthcare level, such as potentially providing PCR testing kits and personal protective equipment.
The second phase of the implementation of the Operational Plan will address the gradual transfer of primary healthcare services management to the pilot municipalities, supervision of the consumption of medicines and other medical supplies, development of the patient database, preparation of structured expenditure reports, preparation of cost structure study, monitoring of staff performance on service delivery indicators and evaluation of clinic readiness according to service coverage criteria.
Libya Public Financial Management (LPFM /Bab Al Tamkeen) is a 5-year initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Libya, implemented by the Pragma Corporation. It provides technical assistance and capacity building at national and municipal levels to strengthen Libya’s public financial management, revitalize the electricity sector, improve the delivery of key public services, and stimulate job and private sector growth.
