Resource Type: Report
Authors: Sharon Nakhimovsky, Roxanne Brizan-St. Martin, Heather Cogswell, Darwin Young, Karl Theodore, Althea LaFoucade, Christine Laptiste, Don Bethelmie, Roger McLean, Stanley Lalta, and Laurel Hatt
Published: 10/2013

Resource Description: 

Economic growth in St. Kitts and Nevis, a federation with a population of approximately 50,000, was strong over the past decade, averaging more than 3.5 percent growth in gross domestic product (World Bank 2013). During that period, the government invested nationwide in alleviating poverty and in strengthening the health system to improve the health status of the population. Though progress was made on both fronts, strategies to target the poor with access to healthcare remain a development priority. While the health system in St. Kitts and Nevis has performed well in delivering primary and secondary care, advanced care is not available to all income groups, as accessing it often requires travel to off-island facilities. This situation leaves Kittitians and Nevisians at risk of financial hardship when accessing the advanced health care services they need. Another specific challenge that the St. Kitts and Nevis health sector faces is decreasing donor investment in HIV programs.

In this context, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is engaged in reforms to move towards universal health coverage (UHC) for its citizens (Douglas 2013). The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is also actively pursuing various health financing and service delivery strategies to ensure the sustainability of its HIV programs. To inform these initiatives, the government recognized a need for National Health Accounts estimates, and therefore engaged technical assistance from the USAID Health Systems 20/20 Caribbean Project to produce these estimates.

This report presents the findings of the St. Kitts and Nevis 2011 National Health Accounts and HIV Subaccounts exercise.