Person:
Carpio, Carmen
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Health policy
Degrees
ORCID
External Links
Departments
Global Practice on Health, Nutrition, and Population, The World Bank
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Carmen Carpio is a Senior Operations Officer working in the World Bank’s Global Practice for Health, Nutrition, and Population. She leads the Bank’s health sector portfolio in the English-speaking Caribbean and Panama. Carmen’s technical experience in the health sector includes project implementation and analytical work in the areas of Human Resources for Health, Health Information Systems, Surveillance System Strengthening, HIV/AIDS, Non Communicable Diseases, and Nutrition. She holds a Certificate in Strengthening Human Resources for Health from Harvard’s School of Public Health, a Master’s in Public Health from George Washington University, and a Master’s from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Latin American Economic Studies. She is a native of Peru and spent a significant amount of her childhood to young adulthood in Southern California.
Publication Search Results
1 - 8 of 8
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Publication
Action through Partnerships : The Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP)
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01)The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) was designated an 'international best practice' by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). A case study on the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) in December, 2004. The Caribbean region is second only to Sub-Saharan Africa in HIV prevalence with an estimated adult HIV prevalence rate of 2.3 percent in 2003. Approximately 430,000 adults and 23,000 children are living with HIV in the region. HIV/ AIDS are the leading cause of death among adults in the age group 15-44 years. The epidemic is not just a health problem, but a developmental and economic problem as it affects the most productive human resources and redirects efforts from productive activities to HIV/AIDS treatment and care. A number of lessons emerge from PANCAP's experience. The building of the partnership was regionally led and owned. En Breve is proud to present the HIV/AIDS series which will run from January until June of 2005. The series looks to raise awareness on how HIV/AIDS directly affects the overall development of the region focusing on the Caribbean. -
Publication
Non-Communicable Diseases in Jamaica : Moving from Prescription to Prevention
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-09)Reducing the burden of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Jamaica is a national policy. The Government of Jamaica has recognized the importance of preventing and controlling NCDs and created the National Health Fund (NHF) to reduce the cost of treating them by providing free or subsidized medicines to patients with NCD conditions and finance some prevention programs. The World Bank undertook a study to learn from Jamaica's experience in tackling major NCDs and related risk factors, provide policy options for Jamaica to improve the NCD Program, and share with other Caribbean countries lessons learned from this experience. The study answered three questions: (i) whether Jamaica's NHF and its drug subsidy Program have reduced out of pocket spending on NCD treatment; (ii) whether access to treatment of NCDs has improved in the country; and (iii) what is the economic burden on patients with NCDs and their families. -
Publication
The Health Workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Analysis of Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-06-04)This report provides a status update on the human resources for health (HRH) sub-system in six Latin American and Caribbean countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. The report structures its discussion around how the health workforce is financed, organized, managed, regulated, and performing. In the area of financing, the study presents the variety of contracting mechanisms, salary levels, and financial incentives offered across the countries and their role in being able to attract and retain health workers. On the organization of the HRH sub-system, the report looks at the skill-mix, training, and distribution of health care workers concluding that although the countries have made progress towards achieving key HRH targets and in making education more accessible, there continues to be limited absorption capacity for graduates, the Primary Health Care focus of training programs needs to be strengthened, and strategies to encourage rural service have not been able to fully address the gap in the distribution of health workers. In reviewing management strategies for HRH, the report presents how all countries have adopted the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel to recognize foreign-trained professionals to help address shortages and fill gaps of health worker presence in rural, remote areas. However, the countries continue to struggle with putting self-sufficiency policies in place to meet HRH needs such as the lack of promotion plans, limited non-monetary incentives, and the shortage of personnel for recruitment and eventual placement. In the area of regulation, the report presents the countries’ efforts to reduce precarious employment and introduce HRH safety policies and legislation to regulate disputes and negotiations. On performance, the report found mixed results in the areas of access/availability to health workers and quality of care, factors discouraging dual practice, and unjustified absenteeism of health workers. -
Publication
Verification of Performance in Results-Based Financing: The Case of Panama's Health Protection for Vulnerable Populations (PSPV) Program
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-08)Verification differentiates results-based financing (RBF) from other health-financing mechanisms, and it is considered an important process of RBF program design and implementation. Despite the vital role it plays in RBF, not much has been written about verification as a process, and information about different elements of the process, frequency, cost, and direct and indirect effects among others, is scarce. Panama’s Health Protection for Vulnerable Populations Program (PSPV) uses an RBF mechanism to deliver health services to the country’s rural poor. As in many RBF schemes, a major component of the PSPV is the verification of results. This study focuses on PSPV’s verification process, highlights its results and their application, and identifies lessons learned. Such information is useful to policy makers and technical experts interested in or designing RBF mechanisms. -
Publication
The Nurse Workforce in the Eastern Caribbean: Meeting the Challenges of Noncommunicable Diseases
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-06-07)The health workforce must be able to cope with shifts in the pattern of causes of death and disease that are being seen worldwide—particularly with the rise in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This requires health personnel to have a set of skills and competencies that can adapt to meet the population’s growing and changing health needs. This report examines the status of the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean, assessing how best to strengthen its capacity to respond to the growing burden of NCDs. The report is based on four Eastern Caribbean case studies conducted in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The case studies showed that, although overall nurse staffing levels seem to be sufficient across the four countries in terms of numbers, there are nurse shortages at hospitals and health clinics, as well as in the availability of specialists. Better management of the nurse workforce is needed to ensure adequate coverage at the hospitals and clinics is maintained. In terms of specialists, while the quality of education is generally reported to be good, there are barriers to accessing specialized training which include the high-cost of seeking specialized training due to non-existing or very limited local options and the lack of built-in incentives for completing additional education. To help address the capacity constraints faced by the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean to respond to NCDs, the report generated knowledge in support of two critical areas: (i) provide an understanding of the educational and training opportunities available to nurses to strengthen their capacity to meet the NCD challenges, and (ii) assess whether there is a supportive policy environment in place for nurses to play a role in addressing NCDs. As part of the study, a toolkit was developed, which can be used to strengthen the capacity for HRH planning and management with respect to NCDs. -
Publication
Verification of Performance in Results-Based Financing: The Case of Panama's PSPV Program
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-08)This HNP knowledge brief focuses on the key findings of the World Bank case study entitled ‘verification of performance in Results-Based Financing (RBF): the case of Panama’s health protection for vulnerable populations program (PSPV)’ (2014). The case study covers 2011 and 2012 and concentrates its analysis on data stemming from two sources: quarterly reports produced during the verification process, and interviews conducted with stakeholders involved in the implementation of the PSPV program. -
Publication
World Bank-Financed HIV Projects in the Caribbean: Lessons for Working with Small States
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-10)This paper summarizes the key findings of an 'After Action Review' (AAR) that reflects a decade of experience in designing and implementing ten HIV/AIDS projects in the Caribbean, financed by the World Bank. The objective is to identify what worked (and what didn't) in the project approach, design and implementation, distilling useful lessons for other projects in small states. -
Publication
Towards a Regional Strategy to Strengthen the Nurse Workforce of the English-speaking CARICOM : International Legal Instruments, Agreements and Obligations
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01)The supply of nurses in the English-Speaking Caribbean is insufficient to meet the demand with growing shortages fuelled by the health needs of a rapidly aging population and tremendous losses of human capital occurring at multiple points in the markets. In defining the scope of commitments of a regional legal agreement, English-Speaking Caribbean Community (ES CARICOM) states will have to ascertain whether states would commit to actions to strengthen the nurse workforce or the health workforce more broadly. While the challenges of strengthening the nurse workforce have been systematically assessed, information about other groups of health professionals remains patchy. In 2008, at the request of the Ministers of Health, the World Bank initiated a stream of work to strengthen the nurse workforce in the English-speaking Caribbean. The study estimated the stock of nurses in the ES CARICOM at approximately 7,800 in 2007 with growing shortages under existing policies at 3,400 in 2007 increasing to 10,700 nurses in 2025 due to the health needs of a rapidly aging population. There are two types of international legal instruments: legally binding instruments or treaties; and non-legally binding instruments.