Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage

Joint Learning Network (JLN) member Ali Ghufron Mukti was appointed Acting Health Minister in Indonesia on Friday, April 27th according to a recent Jakarta Post article. The former Health Minister, Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, resigned from her two and a half year appointment due to an ongoing struggle against lung cancer.

After the Health Minister publically announced her battle against cancer last year, JLN member Ali Ghufron Mukti left his long-term appointment at the University of Gadjah Madah School of Medicine, based in Yogyakarta, to assume post as Vice Minister of Health. Ghufron has now been named acting Health Minister and tasked with carrying forward the initiatives underway throughout Health Minister Endang’s administration. Decisions about a permanent replacement for the Minister have not yet been announced.

The Philippines JLN delegation welcomed colleagues from India, Indonesia and Malaysia to the Information Technology (IT) Track’s Asia core working group meeting, which began today in Manila. This core working group meeting kicks off the second phase of work for the JLN IT Track and is focused on understanding current and future needs around small payment collections as well as developing a working web based version of the Health Data Dictionary—Open HDD or Common Requirements for information technology systems.

“Common requirements are the language we use to communicate between the people that create software and the people that need software,” says David Lubinski, IT Track lead and Senior Advisor for Health Management Information Systems at PATH. The work in Manila builds upon phase one of the IT Track in which JLN member countries developed a shared initial requirements and the HDD prototyper tool.

The Joint Learning Fund is hosting a webinar on Thursday, April 12th at 11am GMT to provide an overview of how the JLF can be used by JLN member countries and highlight the experience of JLN colleagues in Malaysia and Indonesia. Dr. Davis Johnraj, Planning and Development Division, MOH Malaysia and Dr. Atikah Adyas, Senior Officer, Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare in Indonesia, will describe their experiences using the Joint Learning Fund to support a series of workshops focused on provider payment, as well as study tours to Taiwan and the Philippines. They will describe the proposal and planning process, as well at the outcomes, and lessons learned from their engagements. Time will be set aside for questions and discussion. Please make sure to review the connection details in the attached document before Thursday’s webinar to test the software and make sure it works on your machine.

JLN countries are engaged in serious political and technical discussions on how to expand health coverage. Still others are considering such reforms, but are struggling to navigate the legal, financial, and political frameworks of their countries to determine the best path towards reform.