Image:  Representatives from USAID, the Global Fund, PAHO, UNAIDS, CDC, the Health Financing and Governance Project (HFG) and Health Policy Plus (HP+) with the Minister of Education, Hon. Nicolette Henry, and officials from the Ministries of Finance and Public Health, during a Joint Mission for Sustainability Planning in Guyana.

The USAID-funded Health Finance and Governance Project (HFG) has been supporting the governments of Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic to develop sustainability plans for their HIV response. Working closely with national counterparts, HFG has managed sustainability planning processes that are broadly inclusive and build country ownership. The plans detail strategies to continue the transition from Global Fund and PEPFAR funding. Common strategies have included social contracting of civil society organizations (CSOs) to provide services to key populations and scale up treatment and engaging the private sector in domestic resource mobilization.

HFG has implemented assessments in Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic to build the evidence base for sustainability planning. This process has included implementing the Sustainability Index and Dashboard (SID), conducting Health Accounts estimations of health spending and funding flows and building investment cases. It has also included conducting a supply chain study in Barbados. A template designed by HFG and reviewed by partners – including PANCAP, USAID, the Global Fund and UNAIDS – can be adapted by other countries to create roadmaps for setting and achieving sustainability milestones and defining timeframes and technical assistance needs. Importantly, the template pays explicit attention to efforts to protect human rights and access to services for key populations.