Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Person:
Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Global Practice on Health, Nutrition, and Population, The World Bank

Fields of Specialization

Health equity and access, Health economics and finance, Benefit incidence analysis

Departments

Global Practice on Health, Nutrition, and Population, The World Bank

Last updated January 31, 2023

Biography

Abdo Yazbeck is the health practice manager for Eastern and Southern Africa and a lead health economist. He holds a PhD in economics with a focus on health and labor. His most recent assignment was as a manager in the Europe and Central Asia Department for Human Development. Prior to that, he was the program leader at World Bank Institute’s Health and AIDS Team for five years. He previously worked for seven years in South Asia operations as a senior health economist supporting health projects in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Abdo also worked as a senior health economist in the private sector focusing on Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union after being part of the team for World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health and teaching economics at Rice University and Texas A&M University. He has authored/edited six other books, including Better Health Systems for India’s Poor, Learning from Economic Downturns, Reaching the Poor with HNP Services, and Attacking Inequality in the Health Sector.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 18

Immunization in India : An Equity-Adjusted Assessment

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-03) Gaudin, Sylvestre ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

An analysis of the 1992-93 National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) revealed wide differences in levels, and distribution of childhood immunization between, and within Indian states. Evidence of total system failure (no immunization for all) in some low performance areas suggested that improvements in immunization levels may come with a worsening of the distribution of immunization based on wealth. Using the latest NFHS data (1998-99), we take a new snapshot of the situation and compare it to 1992-93, focusing on heterogeneities between states, rural-urban differentials, gender differentials, and more specifically on wealth-related inequalities. In order to assess whether improvements in levels were accompanied by distributional improvements (or whether inequalities were reduced at the expense of overall achievement), we use recently developed methodology to calculate an extended achievement index that captures performance both in terms of efficiency (change in overall immunization rates) and equity (distribution by wealth quintiles) for each of the seventeen largest states. Comparing 1992-93 to 1998-99 levels using different degrees of "inequality aversion" provides no evidence that distributional improvements come at the expense of overall performance.
Health Policy Research in South Asia : Building Capacity for Reform

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-08) Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Peters, David H. ; Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Peters, David H.

The richness of the research papers in this volume makes it difficult to quickly capture the main themes and implications of their research. But three repeated themes can be highlighted: equality of public spending, the role of the private sector, and the role of consumers. On the theme of equality in public expenditures, research in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka shows that in some parts of South Asia-such as south India and Sri Lanka-governments do a much better job of distributing subsidies in the health sector than other regions. The research overwhelmingly documents the dominance of the private sector in Bangladesh and India and finds a very strong private sector in Sri Lanka. The research also highlights different policy instruments available to the government for working with the private sector to achieve health sector outcomes. A third general theme is the role of consumers and the mechanisms available to them to influence health services delivery. The authors in this volume have supported the belief that individuals and households can make a difference in how health services are delivered. While the three themes summarized above cut across several of the chapters in this volume, a more basic theme underlies all the chapters and is the main motivation for conducting health policy research. That theme is that empirical research can and should challenge basic assumptions about the health sector and will provide policymakers some of the tools needed to improve and monitor the performance of the sector.
Better Health Systems for India's Poor : Findings, Analysis, and Options

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Peters, David H. ; Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Sharma, Rashmi R. ; Ramana, G. N. V. ; Pritchett, Lant H. ; Wagstaff, Adam

This report focuses on four areas of the health system in which reforms, and innovations would make the most difference to the future of the Indian health system: oversight, public health service delivery, ambulatory curative care, and inpatient care (together with health insurance). Part 1 of the report contains four chapters that discuss current conditions, and policy options. Part 2 presents the theory, and evidence to support the policy choices. The general reader may be most interested in the overview chapter, and in the highlights found at the beginning of each of the chapters in part 2. These highlights outline the empirical findings, and the main policy challenges discussed in the chapter. The report does not set out to prescribe detailed answers for India's future health system. It does however, have a goal: to support informed debate, and consensus building, and to help shape a health system that continually strives to be more effective, equitable, efficient, and accountable to the Indian people, and particularly to the poor.
WBI-China Health Sector Partnership : Fourteen Years and Growing

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-02) Yang, Chialing ; Shanlian, Hu ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Structural transformation of China's economy in the 1980s and its impact on the health sector created a critical need for skills and research capacity in health economics and financing. In 1989 the Government of China (GOC) enlisted the World Bank Institute (WBI) to work with China's Ministry of Health (MOH) to organize senior policy seminars addressing emerging health issues and to establish a network of institutions to train academic faculty and government officials. In 1991 GOC launched the China Health Economics Network, which in fourteen years has expanded membership from seven to nineteen institutions, offered health sector courses, and led to the training of more than 2,100 executives and trainers. Network research and senior policy seminars have supported critical government policy decisions. Replication of this successful network model is possible in large countries.
The Newest Three-Letter Fad in Health: Can HTA Escape the Fate of NHA, CEA, GBD?

(Taylor and Francis, 2016-04-25) Yazbeck, Abdo S.

The January 2016 issue of Health Systems and Reform, “Special Issue: Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2016: Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage, offers some hope for prioritization in health. The issue included several commentaries and articles that urge a balanced approach to prioritization, while others explore the limitations of empirical tools like cost effectiveness and HTA. The main question for me is the following: Will the zeal for a technical answer win over the more pragmatic commentary presented in these articles of HS&R?
Lessons from 20 Years of Capacity Building for Health Systems Thinking

(Taylor and Francis, 2016-08-24) Reich, Michael R. ; Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Berman, Peter ; Bitran, Ricardo ; Bossert, Thomas ; Escobar, Maria-Luisa ; Hsiao, William C. ; Johansen, Anne S. ; Samaha, Hadia ; Shaw, Paul ; Yip, Winnie

In 2016, the Flagship Program for improving health systems performance and equity, a partnership for leadership development between the World Bank and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other institutions, celebrates 20 years of achievement. Set up at a time when development assistance for health was growing exponentially, the Flagship Program sought to bring systems thinking to efforts at health sector strengthening and reform. Capacity-building and knowledge transfer mechanisms are relatively easy to begin but hard to sustain, yet the Flagship Program has continued for two decades and remains highly demanded by national governments and development partners. In this article, we describe the process used and the principles employed to create the Flagship Program and highlight some lessons from its two decades of sustained success and effectiveness in leadership development for health systems improvement.
Reaching the Poor with Health, Nutrition, and Population Services : What Works, What Doesn't, and Why

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005) Gwatkin, Davidson R. ; Wagstaff, Adam ; Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Gwatkin, Davidson R. ; Wagstaff, Adam ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Health services can make an important contribution to improved health conditions among disadvantaged groups. Yet as the contents of this volume make clear, the health services supported by governments, and by agencies like ours too often fail to reach these people who need them most. This is not acceptable. Nor need it be accepted. The studies presented here point to numerous strategies that can help health programs reach the poor much more effectively than at present. In doing so, they strongly reinforce the messages of the 2004 World Development Report and other recent publications about the importance and possibility of making services work better for poor people. Different views will be formed about which of the strategies are most promising for a particular setting-whether, for example, one would be best advised to follow Brazil's approach of seeking universal coverage for basic health services, Cambodia's strategy of contracting with non-governmental organizations, Nepal's use of participatory program development, or some other approach. The report provides a discussion on issues like these, in order to build upon the important basic findings presented herewith, i.e., that better performance is possible. In brief, better performance in reaching the poor is both needed and feasible. These are the two messages from this report that will be discussed further.
Reproductive Health—The Missing Millennium Development Goal : Poverty, Health, and Development in a Changing World

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Campbell White, Arlette ; Merrick, Thomas W. ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

While women in developing countries continue to die in large numbers in child birth, population and reproductive health specialists and advocates around the world are struggling to keep the policy agenda focused on the rights and needs of poor women. The 1994 Cairo Conference and Program of Action changed how we do business, and opened many doors, but the agenda is not complete and has stalled in a number of ways. At the country level, governments and donors are making difficult choices about how and where to allocate scarce human and financial resources. Funding approaches have moved away from the implementation of narrowly directed health programs to a broader approach of health system development and reform. At the same time, countries are also centering their development agenda on the broad goal of poverty reduction. This volume addresses a large knowledge and capacity gap in the Reproductive Health community and provides tools for key actors to empower faster positive change. It is a synopsis of the materials developed for World Bank's Institute's learning program on Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform. The volume brings together knowledge about epidemiology, demography, economics, and trends in global financial assistance. The volume also introduces practical tools such as benefit incidence analysis, costing, and stakeholder analysis to strengthen the evidence base for policy and to address the political economy factors for reform.
Benchmarking Health Systems in Middle East and North Africa Countries

(Taylor and Francis, 2017-01-31) Wang, Huihui ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Health systems are not easy to benchmark, in part because the health sector produces more than one outcome. This article offers two ways of benchmarking the health systems of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) focusing on two different outcomes, health status and financial protection. The first approach is by measuring the gap between predicted health outcomes based on country socioeconomic status and actual health outcomes. The second approach is by simply comparing the levels of out-of-pocket (OOP) spending in MENA countries. The article offers some interesting findings about the large heterogeneity in both health system outcome achievements despite considerable cultural and linguistic similarities in the region. Moreover, three discrete clusters of countries are found on the health status measure. The findings also give specific health system target outcomes for MENA countries to focus their reform efforts.
Who Needs Big Health Sector Reforms Anyway?: Seychelles' Road to UHC Provides Lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa and Island Nations

(Taylor and Francis, 2018-11-06) Workie, Netsanet Walelign ; Shroff, Emelyn ; Yazbeck, Abdo S. ; Nguyen, Son Nam ; Karamagi, Humphrey

The road to universal health coverage (UHC) needs not be driven by big reforms that include the initiation of health insurance, provider–funder separation, results-based financing, or other large health sector reforms advocated in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The Seychelles experience, documented through a series of analytical products like public expenditure reviews and supporting surveys with assistance from the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), shows an alternative, more incremental reform road to UHC, with important lessons to the region and other small-population or island nations. Done well, in some countries, a basic supply-side funded, publicly owned and operated, and integrated health system can produce excellent health outcomes in a cost-effective and sustainable way. The article traces some of the factors that facilitated this success in the Seychelles, including high political commitment, strong voice and a downward accountability culture, strong public health functions, and an impressive investment in primary health care. These factors help explain past successes and also provide a good basis for adaptation of health systems to dramatic shifts in the epidemiological and demographic transitions, disease outbreaks, and rising public expectation and demand for high quality of care. Once again, how the Seychelles responds can show the way for other countries in the region and elsewhere regardless of the types of reforms countries engage in.