World Bank

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Health in Africa are more likely to be achieved if the underlying Health Systems designed to deliver services to the poor are effective and strong. The poor in many African countries continue to be exempt from receiving the health care they need. In 2009, the Africa Region Technical Health Unit (AFTHE)-anchored in the Health Nutrition and Population (HNP) network of the World Bank -launched a new program called “Health Systems for Outcomes” (HSO) to address key health systems weaknesses. The HSO program, is funded jointly by the World Bank, The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the government of Norway and the United Kingdom.

The HSO team recognizes that development assistance has little impact and does not lead to health outcomes that benefit the poor unless systemic weaknesses are adequately addressed. The HSO Program primarily supports International Health Partnership (IHP) countries (or soon to be IHP countries) although some support is being provided to non IHP countries on a case by case basis, based on prioritized need. Development Partners in IHP countries have formally agreed to implement the Paris Declaration in the health sector, hopefully making development assistance more effective.

Central to the HSO are two technical hubs located in Africa (in Dakar and Nairobi), designed to provide technical and analytical support and expertise to governments and country Task Team Leaders working on Health Systems Strengthening (HSS).
 

Eva Jarawan
AFTHE manager
Eva Jarawan is Sector Manager for Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) covering all of Sub-Saharan Africa. She has 18 years of Bank experience covering a range of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Middle East and North Africa. She has worked in the areas of health policy, health system development, public health and disease control, nutrition, population and reproductive health, and community-based approaches to development. As a manager, she has overseen tasks in education and Social Protection, in addition to HNP. She holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a focus on Health Policy and Management and an MBA from Georgia State University, a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the American University of Beirut. Before joining the Bank, she was on the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut and a research fellow and later on, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.

James Christopher Lovelace
Senior Advisor, HSO Program Coordinator
Chris is leading the Health systems for Outcomes program of the Africa Region. He has over 25 years senior management experience in health systems management including having served as Director-General of Health in New Zealand and Assistant Deputy Minister in the British Columbia Ministry of Health (Canada). In the Bank, Chris has held numerous positions, including Director of Human Development, Europe and Central Asia Region, and Director of Health, Nutrition, and Population in the Human Development Network. In addition, he has served as country manager/representative for the Bank in Eritrea, Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Chris sees his principal areas of HSS expertise as an integrator with a holistic view of health systems and in the area of governance and decentralization. Contact:Jlovelace@worldbank.org; cell phone: (+254) 732391152; work : (+254) 20-3226409

Adreas Seiter
Senior Health Specialist
Andreas Seiter is a Senior Health Specialist and expert for pharmaceutical policy and management at the World Bank’s Health, Nutrition and Population Anchor. He joined the Bank in January 2004 and is responsible for analytical and advisory work in all areas of pharmaceutical policy, such as regulation, governance, quality assurance, financing, purchasing, supply chain and rational use. He has been working with Bank teams, policy makers and experts on the client side in several countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia. Andreas, a German national, is a physician by training and practiced medicine before joining the pharmaceutical industry in 1984. He held various positions in Medical Operations, Product Management, Communications and Stakeholder Relations in the industry prior to joining the Bank.

Core HSO staff

Anne Marie Bodo
Pharmaceutical Specialist
Anne Marie Bodo, Pharmaceuticals Specialist, holds a Doctorate degree in Pharmaceuticals and Biomedical Sciences from University of Paris XI, France. Since 2001, Anne Marie has worked on several health projects in the Africa region of the World Bank in addition to having worked in more than 19 African countries, developing constructive working relationships with client countries and other development partners. Anne Marie has a variety of experience in the health sector, including implementation of regional operational programs, provision of technical leadership on pharmaceuticals area, and working closely with more than 20Task Team leaders (TTL) and teams. Prior to coming to the Bank, Anne Marie was part of a multidisciplinary team (in the pharmaceutical industry) that worked on drug research and development. The findings of those efforts include the design of a protocol for a therapy that is currently being used in several countries throughout the world. Contact: bodo@worldbank.org; cell phone: (+254) 717722886; work: (+ 254) 20-3226000

Aissatou Diack
Pharmaceutical Specialist
Aissatou is a Senior Health Specialist with more than 16 years of experience working in the health sector in Sub Saharan Africa, especially on maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and pharmaceutical sector policy and management. She holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Dakar (1992) and a Masters in Public Health from Emory University(1997).She joined the World Bank group in 2001, where she led or participated in the design, supervision and evaluation of health programs (SWAPs, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition) as well as health components of multi-sectoral operations (PRSCs, CDDs) in several countries in Africa. During her assignment in the HNP anchor, she has confirmed her technical expertise as a pharmaceutical specialist by coordinating a study on the roadblocks to procurement of pharmaceuticals and medicines in World Bank-financed projects, leading the assessment of the pharmaceutical sector management and governance in Benin, Rwanda and Congo, contributing to analytical work to improve the procurement and supply chain of pharmaceuticals in Timor Leste (EAP Region), and analyzing drug quality assurance systems of drugs in Central America (LAC Region). She is the lead author of an upcoming Bank publication on strategies to improve governance and address corruption in the pharmaceutical sector. Prior to the Bank, she worked as Health Program Manager for several NGOs (PLAN International, Society for Women Against AIDS in Africa) and managed a private pharmacy. Contact: adiack@worldbank.org ; cell phone: (+221) 77-646-86-96; work phone: (+221) 33-859-4159.

Francois Diop
Financing Specialist
A senior health economist with 20-year experience in health sector reform and health care financing, with a focus on Africa. François holds a PhD from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining the Bank, François worked as a senior health economist at Abt Associates, where he provided technical leadership in the implementation of USAID health financing and reform projects in numerous African countries: Health Finance and Sustainability (HFS) project, Partnerships for Health Reforms (PHR) project, PRIME II project, Partners for Health Reformplus (PHRplus) project and the AWARE-RH projects. While employed at the World Bank between 2001 and 2002, François worked on the implementation of CSRs on poverty and health in African countries. During the past two years, Francois provided technical leadership in the Health Financing and Policy Project in Senegal; developed a newhealth financing policy in Liberia under the Health Systems 20/20 Project, contributed to the preparation of a health insurance strategy in Ethiopia; and designed community-based health insurance pilots under the Health Sector Financing Reform Project in Ethiopia. François’ specific HSS area are in health financing and community-based health insurance. Contact-: fdiop1@worldbank.org; work: (+221) 33 869 7629.

Christopher H. Herbst
Operations Analyst / HRH Specialist
Chris works as a health analyst in the Africa Region Health, Nutrition and Population Department of the World Bank He holds an undergraduate degree from King’s College London (KCL) in European Politics and Economics, and a graduate degree from the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE) in Population and International Development (Health Econ). He works closely with the HSO team in Dakar, Nairobi and Washington to ensure the smooth implementation the HSO Program, particularly the regional component. In addition, Chris works to support Health Systems Strengthening lending operations in the Africa Region including Ghana and Sierra Leone. Christopher has over 6 years of experience at the Bank, having worked largely on programs related to Human Resources for Health, Community Based Financing Schemes, Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Supply Chains. He is Lead or Co-author of several documents on these topics. Prior to joining the Bank, Chris has held stints at the DC Department of Health and the UK Parliament.

Christophe Lemiere
HRH Specialist
Christophe is a senior health specialist and has worked about 10 years in developing countries, mostly in SSA. He holds a MS in health economics (Paris University) and an MBA (Harvard University). After several years as a hospital manager, Christophe worked as a consultant in more than 15 countries, focusing on issues related to health services management (including hospital reforms) and human resources issues, his two specific areas of expertise. Contact: clemiere@worldbank.org ; work: (+221) 33-869-7609

Tonia Marek
HSO Program Coordinator
Tonia is a lead public health specialist with 30 years of experience in SSA. She holds a Dr. P.H. and a MS degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She has worked at the Bank for 20 years, primarily in the areas of community nutrition, poverty programs, social funds, health projects, budget support, and PPPs. Prior to that, Tonia worked for various organizations, including several governments in Africa, UNICEF, The Population Council. Her specific HSS related expertise covers community health service delivery and public-private partnerships. Contact: tmarek@worldbank.org; work: (+221) 33-859-4178.

GNV Ramana
Lead Health Specialist
Ramana is a health specialist with over two decades of operational experience, working with health system strengthening in developing countries. He is medical doctor by training and started his career in Nigeria. He has subsequently acquired Master’s degree in Public Health and has been with the Bank since 1998. Prior to that he worked for the Administrative Staff College of India, where he did policy research covering wide ranging topics like burden of disease and cost-effectiveness of health interventions, development of essential health package for Nepal, and a strategy for reducing childhood malnutrition in India. His HSS-related expertise covers governance and decentralization as well as service delivery, especially for special groups like the urban poor. He also comes with strong skills in planning and implementation of core public health services, such as disease surveillance and control of communicable diseases. Ramana is familiar with designing and implementing challenging operations in countries with complex central and provisional relationships. Contact: gramana@worldbank.org; cell phone (+254) 736813316; work (+254) 20-3226376.
 

Claude Sekabaraga
Results Based Financing Specialist
Claude, a medical doctor by training, is a health system specialist with 15 years of experience in Rwandan Ministry of Health. He has worked at all levels of the Rwandan health system, including as Director of a District Hospital, District Medical Officer, Director of Quality, Director of Health Services, and Director of Planning and Capacity Building in the Rwandan Ministry of Health. He has also been apart-time lecturer in the Rwanda School of Public Health, and was a board member of Rwanda National Institute of Science and Research as well as of Civil Servant Social Insurance. Claude also holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and Health Development from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. In addition to his HSS-related experience, he is also an expert in health policy and strategy development, community and social health insurance, as well as in equity management of human resources. Contact: csekabaraga@worldbank.org; work: (+254) 20-3226000.

Aly B. Sy
HRH Specialist
Aly is an economist who has worked in the health sector for more than 25 years. He holds degrees in economics from the University of Montreal and in business administration from the HEC. He has worked for the World Bank for the past 18 years, primarily in the areas of human resources for health (HRH) and health care financing, but also in financial management. Prior to coming to the Bank, Aly worked as a hospital director in Northern Canada (James Bay, Quebec). His specific HSS-related expertise covers HRH (HR for rural and underserved areas, preparation of costed human resources for health strategy, preparation of pre-service training scale-up plans,as well as health resources assessment and policy development) and, to a lesser extent, health care financing (health expenditures analysis). Contact: asy@worldbank.org; cell phone: (+250) 78 3 04 9500.

Netsanet Walelign Workie
Financing Specialist
Netsanet is a senior health economist with 17 years of experience in Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds an MSc degree in human resource economics in education, health, and labor economics from Addis Ababa University. He joined the Bank in February 2009, as a senior health economist. Prior to that, Netsanet worked for UNICEF as Senior Economist, for Abt Associates as Health Care Financing Advisor, and at Addis Ababa University as Lecturer in the Department of Economics; and at the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation as Public Finance Expert. His specific HSS-related expertise covers evidence-based policy, planning, costing and budgeting; health care financing policy; fiscal space and funding gap analysis; public finance and fiscal decentralization; national health accounts; development of costing tools; and health MDGs needs assessment. Contact: nwalelign@worldbank.org; cell phone: (+254)717511543; work :( + 254)20-3226346.

Feng Zhao
Senior Health Specialist
Feng Zhao is a Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank. He has 19 years of experience in public health, medicine, economics and demography in Africa and Asia. He has extensively worked service delivery, public-private partnership, eHealth, Sector-wide Approach, health care financing, and public expenditure analysis. His rich experience in managing health programs from both the government and donor side strengthened his skills in the areas of strategy development, planning, and implementation. . He is the eHealth coordinator for the Africa Region of the World Bank, leading the preparation of an eHealth program. He is also managing the Bank's health portfolio in Ethiopia and Lesotho. He holds a Ph.D in population economics from the Johns Hopkins University, a Mater of Public Health from University of California at Berkeley, a MD from China. He serves as a faculty member for a number of universities, including Yale University (USA)"

Moulay Driss Zine Eddine El Idrissi
Financing Specialist
An Economist/PhD, Driss has more than 18 years professional experience in health institutions, including eight years of international background in MENA and Africa. His areas of expertise in the HSS team include health care financing, planning and health policy, national health accounts, costing and cost analysis, sdesigning/implementing health financing reforms, capacity building in health economics. His professional experience includes (i) Head, Health Economics Unit, Ministry of Health, Rabat, Morocco, 1997-2002; (ii) Director, Planning Division, Ministry of Health, Rabat, Morocco, 2003, (iii) Chief, Health Minister’s Cabinet, Rabat, Morocco, 2003-2005; (iv) International Consultant, UNAIDS, WHO, and USAID, 2001-2009; (v) Health Economist, WHO-EMRO, 2005-2009; (v) Teaching (universities, higher education institutes), 1991-2003. Contact: mzineeddineelidr@worldbank.org ; cell phone: (+221) 77-723-13-82.