Resource Library

Romania: Models for Commercial Financing of an Emerging Private Health Sector The Banking on Health Project

Romania is a model in the Europe and Eurasia region for its tremendous gains in women's health since 1994. When USAID began working in Romania in 1990, the World Health Organization ranked women's health there as the poorest in the region. USAID supported family planning and reproductive health (RH/FP) programming from the early 1990s that contributed to the improvements in women's health. The nearly 11,000 family doctors operating throughout the country are a major factor in Romania's success. Their practices are contracted out to provide a basic package of health care, including FP, through a national health insurance scheme. USAID worked with the government of Romania to bring about health policy reform allowing family doctors to provide FP counselling and products; previously these products and services were available only from specialists in major urban areas, limiting access for women in poorer, rural regions.