Person: Lavadenz, Fernando
Global Practice on Health, Nutrition, and Population, The World Bank
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Health systems, Public health, Governance, Latin America and the Caribbean
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Global Practice on Health, Nutrition, and Population, The World Bank
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Fernando Lavadez is Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank with more than 25 years of experience working in 22 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Asia, in areas including health systems strengthening, health policy, governance and public health, service delivery, results-based financing, maternal and child health, public-private partnerships, and Non Communicable Diseases. He has participated in the preparation of 24 health, and multi-sector projects at the World Bank, and others. He worked at the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO), as a health systems advisor, and held several positions in academic institutions as well as in the Government of Bolivia. He was Chief of Cabinet (Vice Minister equivalent) to the Ministry of Health, the General Manager of Health Sector Reform, the General Director of Health Insurance, and the National Director of Hospitals.
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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
Publication A Call to Support Francophone African Countries to End the Tremendous Suffering from NTDs(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-12) Sorgho, Gaston; Lavadenz, Fernando; Tshivuila Matala, Opope OyakaEighteen neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and malaria account together for 22 percent of the total burden of communicable diseases in 25 Francophone African countries (FPACs). The cumulative impact of NTDs decreases the quality of life of households, slows economic growth, and results in millions of dollars in lost economic productivity annually. Of the 18 NTDs, 5 can be controlled by preventive chemotherapy (PC) through safe mass drug administration (MDA). In 2017, the WB launched the deworming Africa initiative (DAI), with the purpose of raising the profile of NTDs control and elimination efforts among endemic Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to eliminate NTDs as a public health threat. DAI’s strategy seeks to reduce the burden of NTDs in 3 key population groups that mostly impact on human capital: young children (12 to 23 months), pregnant women, and school-age children (SAC) (5 to 14 years of age). To achieve this objective in a sustainable way, DAI supports country efforts to strengthen the coordinated engagement of the health, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and economic sectors with a national prevention and control strategy. Multisectoral collaboration between Ministries of economy, health, education, and WASH is a promising approach to maximize national resources towards the long-term sanitary and financial objectives of reducing NTDs in SSA.Publication NTDs and Deworming Africa Initiative: Madagascar(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-02) Schultz, Linda; Lavadenz, Fernando; Tshivuila Matala, Opope Oyaka; Calvo, Nashira; Qamruddin, JumanaNeglected Tropical Diseases are a group of 18 parasitic, viral and bacterial infections that are endemic to 47 countries in Africa. These diseases, negatively impact the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. The diseases can cause disabilities that may in turn have a detrimental impact on a country’s economic productivity. This brief provides an overview of the burden of NTDs in Madagascar, and opportunities to integrate prevention and control activities in active World Bank projects.Publication Optimizing Investments in the National HIV Response of Mexico(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-03) Gutierrez, Catalina; Lavadenz, Fernando; Macias, Claudia; Petravic, Janka; Lavadenz, LuisDespite a substantial improvement in controlling new infections of HIV over the last ten years, Mexico is experiencing a low-level epidemic with approximately 180,000 people living with HIV (Spectrum, 2013), making it the fourth ranking country in Latin America with regards to the number of people with the disease (PLHIV). The objective of increasing coverage and reducing inequality in the country is reflected in the objectives of the Specific Action Program (PAE) for the national response to HIV, AIDS and STI of 2013-2018 (Secretaria de salud), which seeks to decrease the effect of HIV and STIs, implement prevention strategies and provide comprehensive care for vulnerable population groups and those living in poverty. The possibility of achieving the objectives of the PAE is closely related to the total amount of resources that Mexico can commit to fighting HIV and the way these resources are allocated. In the hopes of assisting the Government of Mexico in further strengthening its HIV investment, the authors try to answer the question How can HIV funding be optimally allocated to the combination of HIV response interventions that will yield the highest impact in the shortest period. The study found that despite the overall greater costs of treatment with ART, this is the most cost-effective program. ART not only reduces deaths but is an effective measure to prevent new infections due to the reduction of viral load to undetectable levels. As such, the most cost-effective allocation – with no additional resources of current Program funds, is to scale up treatment, by about 4 to 8 percent, to maximize ART coverage while slightly reducing overall allocations to general population prevention.This slight increase would avert 4,235 deaths and 3,371 new infections, and improve health outcomes by around 6 percent. To increase the value-for-money of existing resources, allocation efficiency would also require the strengthening of CENSIDA´s stewardship role, to ensure that the funds transferred are invested as they were initially earmarked.Publication Thirty Years of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Argentina: An Assessment of the National Health Response(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-07-08) Lavadenz, Fernando; Pantanali, Carla; Zeballos, Eliana; Adaszko, Ariel; Borruel, Miguel; Falistocco, Carlos; Kaynar, Vanesa; Laplacette, Graciela; Levite, Valeria; Vignau, LilianaThis book delves into the combination of factors that make Argentina a success story in combating HIV/AIDS. It analyzes the national and inter-provincial burden of disease, the demographics of new HIV cases, the demand and supply-sides of service delivery, and conducts a cost-benefit analysis of the Argentine National HIV/AIDS Program from 2000 to 2010. This book will be of interest to those who wish to examine key programmatic innovations that have been essential to Argentina’s success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, such as the introduction of universal free antiretroviral treatment, a comprehensive legal framework for sexual and reproductive rights, the introduction of incentives and results-based financing in the HIV/AIDS program, electronic monitoring of supplies and medicines, and implementation of an electronic clinical governance system for improving the quality of care and patient follow-up. The 1992 creation of the National HIV/AIDS Program was a fundamental step for Argentina to reach the second lowest burden of HIV/AIDS in South America in 2010. Despite these successes, the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Argentina still poses continuous challenges, including a high number of new infections among young men who have sex with men, inequalities in HIV/AIDS rates between provinces, insufficient coverage of HIV diagnostic testing, relatively low expenditure on HIV prevention, and poses the question regarding the long-term financial sustainability of the program, considering the increasing number of patients in treatment and the high comparative cost of antiretroviral treatment.Publication Reducing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Lessons from Argentina(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-09) Miachon, Lais; Lavadenz, FernandoArgentina reduced its HIV/AIDS burden by 21 percent from 2000 to 2010, saving an estimated 4,379 lives. This makes Argentina s HIV/AIDS burden the second lowest in South America after Chile. Argentina reduced the mother-to-child HIV/AIDS transmission rate by 62 percent from 2000 to 2011. The National HIV/AIDS Program was created in 1995 and has since introduced key innovations that have contributed to the reduction of the HIV/AIDS burden in Argentina. As of 2010, the National HIV/AIDS Program is entirely domestically funded, and a World Bank study has found the Program to be cost-beneficial.Publication Using Budgeting for Results in HIV/AIDS Programs : Lessons from Peru(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-10) Medici, Andre; Vargas, Veronica; Lavadenz, Fernando; Miachon, LaisPeru reduced its HIV/AIDS burden by 43 percent from 2000 to 2010 due to the introduction of free antiretroviral drug therapy in 2004, and the successful execution of the 2007-2011 HIV/AIDS Strategy and budgeting for results since 2011. The national HIV program received significant external support from bilateral and international organizations until 2010. The program s share of domestic public funding has since increased substantially. Since 2011, the Ministry of Finance has worked to improve allocative efficiency of HIV/AIDS public funding for high-risk groups, using budgeting for results and transferring resources directly to the Regions. The HIV/AIDS prevalence in 2010 was estimated at 0.4 percent, below the Latin American and the Caribbean regional prevalence of 0.5 percent.Publication Connecting Sectors and Systems for Health Results(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-12) Pierre-Louis, Anne Maryse; El-Saharty, Sameh; Stanciole, Anderson; Jonas, Olga; Pascual, F. Brian; Oelrichs, Robert; Lorenzo, Montserrat Meiro; Villafana, Tonya; Lavadenz, Fernando; Rock, MarciaStrengthening public health, that is, improving the health of whole populations through action across all relevant sectors is at the heart of the World Bank's mission. This policy note takes stock of the global progress in public health over the past decade; lays out the challenges that must be addressed for this progress to be sustained and accelerated; and proposes an approach for the Bank to maximize its contribution to public health in the years ahead. This note comes at a critical juncture, given the important gains made in public health over the past decade. Key global indicators, including life expectancy at birth, under-five mortality and maternal mortality, have shown steady improvement, while initiatives such as the scale-up of polio vaccination and the distribution of bed nets to combat malaria have saved millions of lives. The Bank is proud to have worked with countries and development partners to contribute to these achievements. The note emphasizes that the Bank will need to root its future public health efforts in its areas of comparative advantage, including its capacity to analyze the economic and development impact of health investments, and its extensive experience in working across sectors for health results. The Bank finances investments in all the sectors that impact health, including education, social protection, infrastructure, water and sanitation and transportation, to name a few, and is well placed to help mobilize such sectors through coordinated, population-based interventions to improve health and accelerate development. Given its analytic capability, the Bank has a potentially critical role to play in focusing finite budgets on the most cost-effective actions, particularly in prevention and health promotion.