December 05, 2017

Heartfile held a special session on Heartfile Health Financing at 8th Public Health Conference held at the Health Services Academy in Islamabad. Heartfile Health Financing Stakeholders—donors, doctors, and operational staff—deliberated at the event about scale up modalities.

September 18, 2017

On the occasion of the Sustainable Development Impact Summit, the World Economic Forum held a session on “Public and Private Collaboration to Close the Gap on Financing for NCDs”. The session gathered business leaders, government, academia and civil society to share examples on how innovators have successfully deployed resources and capital towards impact on the NCD agenda, around the world. Sania Nishtar was one of the panelists and shared the manner in which Heartfile Health Financing is helping save lives in Pakistan.

August 14, 2016

 NCD ALLIANCE/WHO EMRO held a capacity development workshop in Amman, Jordan on 15-16 August 2016 to increase the ability of Eastern Mediterranean Region’s civil societies to build effective NCD alliances and to engage in effective NCDs advocacy. The meeting was attended by diverse group of CSOs from the region. Dr Saba Amjad from Heartfile, participated in this training workshop as a member of its advisory group and presented an overview of the discussion paper on NCD Civil society case studies in NCD prevention and control in the region.

June 14, 2016

We have updated all documentaries related to Heartfile Health Financing on our Youtube Channel

September 28, 2015

The global premier of the documentary based on Sania Nishtar’s book, “Choked Pipes” and her work subsequent to that in Pakistan, was held in New York on September 22 as a side session of the United Nations’ 70th General Assembly. The event was hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation and was oversubscribed. The screening of the documentary was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Michael Myers, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation. Panelists included Prof. Linda Fried, Dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Nata Manabde, Executive Director of the WHO office at the UN headquarters in New York; Director of the film, Randall Wright and Sania Nishtar. The documentary highlights an alternative third health systems model, which along with the existing Beveridge and Bismarck systems can help achieve Universal Health Coverage in Mixed Health Systems. Prof. Fried referred to the model as a ‘stealth reform’ in terms of its ability, both to provide universal health coverage as well as overcome existing distortions of mixed health systems.

September 17, 2015

A sneak preview of the documentary based on our President, Sania Nishtar’s Oxford University Press-published book Choked Pipes, was held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on September 11, 2015. The ‘sneak preview’ was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Andrew Jack from Financial Times. The panel included Prof. Sir Andy Haines, Prof. Martin McKee of European Public Health London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Joseph Kutzin, Co-ordinator of Health Systems Financing, and our President Dr.Sania Nishtar of Heartfile. As described by Rockhopper TV, the creators of the documentary, “In this landmark documentary, Dr Sania Nishtar—one of the leaders of a new movement in Global Health proposing the reform of entire health systems—leads award-winning director Randall Wright on a journey through the health system of her native Pakistan, where 73% of the population have no financial health coverage”. The documentary has been made by Rockhopper TV, who have been involved in making award-winning broadcast documentaries, for TV channels as diverse as the BBC, PBS, Showtime, ITV, Discovery, National Geographic and national broadcasters around...

May 04, 2015

TheSeminar series alongside the Asian Development Bank Board meetingin Bakufeatured a session on Universal Health Coverage: "Revealingthefinancial solutions for UHC". The seminar aimed to explore ways in which developing countries in Asia and the Pacific could achieve financially sustainable universal health coverage. Participants discussed new tools forincreasing financing for health services and ways in which a finance ministry could navigate the political minefield associated with raising and allocating taxes. The Heartfile health financing model was discussed as one of the options for overcoming the financial access barrier for the poor in therealm of UHC. The Seminar was moderated by Stephen P Groff, Asian Development Bank Vicepresident for Operations. Panelists included ; Kiyoshi Modera, VicePresident,Japan International Cooperation Agency; George Gotsadze, Director,CuratioInternational Foundation, Georgia; Rajiv Mehrishi, Secretary Finance,India; and Sania Nishtar, President Heartfile, Pakistan.

November 28, 2014

Mobilizing Medical Supplies for Pakistan, a Clinton Global Initiative commitment led by Heartfile with Direct Relief and World Health Organization as partners, successfully delivered the first consignment to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. The donation comprised of two forty foot shipping containers containing hospital beds, autoclaves, endoscopes and other medical consumables. This is one of the many donations Heartfile will help direct to public sector hospitals in Pakistan increasing their capacity to deliver better healthcare to poor patients.

October 07, 2013

Heartfile was visible at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual meeting in New York last week through the participation of our President, Dr Sania Nishtar, a 2013 member of CGI. The meeting featured a video about Heartfile Health Financing’s CGI Commitment to Action, in partnership with Direct Relief and the WHO, Pakistan Office. Heartfile’s CGI Commitment ‘Systems of Change: Mobilizing Medical Resources for Pakistan’ can be viewed here. The CGI Annual Meeting was held in New York from September 23-26 and as usual a wide community of global leaders including leading CEOs, heads of state, Nobel Prize Laureates and major philanthropists attended the meeting.

April 23, 2013

The 2nd Annual International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery (IPIHD) Forum was held in Washington DC, USA on April 7th and 8th this year. The forum was held along sides the 10th World Healthcare Congress at the Gaylord National Resort, MD, USA. It invited leading healthcare entrepreneurs, global institutions, investors and organizations that were interested in learning about innovative healthcare delivery models from across the world. Dr. Anis Kazi, Senior Manager at Heartfile, represented the organization and profiled its award-winning Heartfile Health Financing program as Pakistan’s unique health equity model with replicable and scalable potentials. A separate session on the program was held titled “Harnessing Innovation for Universal Health Coverage”, where discussions around medical impoverishment, financial access and strategic partnerships took place. 

April 22, 2013

Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke (SEAD) held its first summit at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in collaboration with the USAID. This three-day summit, held on 3rd-6th April, 2013 brought together healthcare innovators, investors, academics, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The summit focused on scaling up innovations in healthcare delivery, identifying the challenges and help develop replicable solutions and business models for healthcare delivery. Heartfile was represented by Senior Manager, Dr. Anis Kazi.

March 18, 2013

Pakistani are renowned for their zealous generosity and their charitable contributions towards humanitarian causes. Rana Allawala and Saeed Allawala, both friends of the Heartfile Leaders’ Network, hosted a fundraiser for Heartfile Health Financing in Karachi on March 3, 2013. Justice (R) Nasir Aslam was the chief guest at the event, and our President, Dr. Sania Nishtar was the keynote speaker. The event called on a selected gathering of Karachi’s eminent movers and shakers willing to lend support to Heartfile Health Financing, our social protection program, which protects the poorest of the poor from medical impoverishment.

February 24, 2013

Heartfile Health Financing and Janum network signed a Memorandum of Understanding on improving financial access to healthcare for patients suffering from Obstetric fistula. Several commitments have been agreed upon by the two NGOs; the MoU can be  accessed here.

November 26, 2012

The British-Pakistan Foundation held a Roadshow on November 16th, 2012, to raise awareness within the UK Pakistani Diaspora about the ‘third sector’ activity in Pakistan in terms of civil society contribution towards the development agenda in Pakistan and to present successful health sector examples to the diasporas. Asif Rangoonwala, Chairman BPF made the opening remarks for the panel, which was moderated by Suniya Qureshi, BPF Executive Director. The panel included Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan, Representative RSPN; Saquib Hameed, Executive Director LRBT; Moazzam Malik, Director West Asia DFID; Dr. Mohammed Iqbal, Representative APPSUK, Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Representative Medic Liverpool FC and our president Sania Nishtar, who showcased the work of Heartfile.

November 10, 2012

Heartfile and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) jointly hosted a Satellite event on the occasion of the 2nd Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Beijing on November 3, 2012 at the Beijing International Conference Centre. The event was organized as a consultation, with the purpose of soliciting peer views on Heartfile Health Financing’s evaluation strategy. Panelists included Sharmila Mhatre (IDRC), Dr Abdul Ghaffar (WHO), Dr. Johanthan Quick (MSH), Dr. Babak Pourbohloul in addition to Dr Faraz Khalid and Dr. Sania Nishtar, from Heartfile.

October 29, 2012

A pre-conference for Emerging Health Systems Research for Universal Health Coverage was held in School of Public Health, Peiking University, Beijing on 29-30 October 2012. Dr. Faraz Khalid from Heartfile was one of the young voices who presented findings of his “ Literature review of Health Equity Fund experiences in lesser developed countries” in the Health Systems Financing Research session.

September 23, 2012

The Planning Commission held a meeting to explore the prospect of collaborating with Heartfile Health Financing (HHF)—Heartfile’s innovative social protection program, which aims to help the poorest of the poor in Pakistan from catastrophic shocks. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Mr. Nadeem Ul Haq. Participants included stakeholders representing various ministries of  the Government of Pakistan in addition to a number of development partners and expert. Our President, Dr. Sania Nishtar gave a presentation on the HHF system which stirred an interest in its potential for up-scaling and its potential for collaborations. The Planning Commission has devised to form a Working Group to follow up on this consultation.

July 26, 2012

After a successful June 11 launch in Washington the Heartfile Leaders’ Network has also been launched in London at a reception at the House of Lords on July 11. Dr. Peter Bourne, Former Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations and former special assistant to Jimmy Carter, spoke at the reception to mark the London launch; Prof. Sir Eldryd Parry, Prof. Rifat Atun, Richard Blewitt and many prominent members of the Pakistani diaspora joined the reception and pledged their support for Heartfile.

July 25, 2012

Pakistan was in the spotlight at the House of Lords in London on July 11. The seminar, “Innovative Financing for the Poor: Pakistan at the Cutting Edge” featured a discussion on the Heartfile Health Financing program. The event was hosted by Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, and was moderated by Dr. Richard Horton, Editor of the Lancet. Dr. Sania Nishtar was the keynote speaker, alongside panelists Prof. Sir Eldryd Parry, Prof. Rifat Atun and Richard Blewitt of HelpAge International. The event was succeeded by a reception in the Attlee Room at the Lords where the London Launch of the Heartfile Leaders’ Network took place.

July 02, 2012

The 2012 CGI Mid-Year Meeting was held at the Sentry Centers in New York on June 25 with the aim of bringing together members to create connections, support ongoing commitments, and support effective action. Our president, Dr. Sania Nishtar was a Commitment presenter both at the opening plenary in as well as in the Commitment workshop on multi-sectoral action on NCDs, where the Heartfile Health Financing project was discussed in-depth.

July 01, 2012

Our recently released documentary about Heartfile Health Financing initiative can be accessed here.

June 21, 2012

Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) hosted the Washington launch of the Heartfile Leaders Network on June 11, 2012. The Network is being established to support the work of Heartfile Health Financing and the Sania Nishtar Health Fund.
Partners for a New Beginning is a network operating in ten countries around the world where local projects and priorities are identified by local chapters. The Secretariat strategically matches these projects with US and international partners. The Aspen Institute in Washington serves as the Secretariat for Partners for a New Beginning. Our President, Dr. Sania Nishtar is a member of the PNB Pakistan Chapter.

May 02, 2012

Organized under the auspices of the World Heart Federation, the 2012 Scientific Sessions of the World Congress of Cardiology were recently held in the United Arab Emirates (April 19-21). Our Senior Manger, Dr Faraz Khalid, represented the President, Sania Nishtar at the session on “The Past and the Future: Discoveries and Clinical Research in the Middle East”. Heartfile’s Health Financing initiative was presented at the session.

December 25, 2011

Abu Dhabi recently hosted the World Health Care Congress Middle East where a plenary session on Innovative Financing Models for Global Health Care Challenges was featured as part of the Congress’ emerging trends theme. The panel included Robert Filipp, (Founder, Innovative Finance, Geneva); Dr. Paolo de Santis, (Partner, McKinsey & Co., Rome); Wassim Mourtada, (CEO Envision ALR, Abu Dhabi); Helmut M. Schüehsler, (Managing Partner, TVM Capital, Munich) and Heartfile Founder and President, Dr. Sania Nishtar.

December 13, 2011

Heartfile Health Financing was featured as a key theme in discussions at the 2nd Annual Public Health Conference on Health Systems held at the Health Services Academy in Islamabad. The focus was on “Public health in the wake of recent reforms in Pakistan.” Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to speak at the opening plenary and Dr. Faraz Khalid gave a program overview in one of the concurrent sessions.

November 20, 2011

Huffington Post UK launched a new Impact section on issues, charities and making a difference on Friday November 18, 2011, the same day as the BBC’s Children In Need campaign. Our comment on Innovative Financing for health in Pakistan was displayed on the front page of the Impact section available to more than four million Huffington Post readers in the UK with around 35m for the site worldwide. 

October 31, 2011

This month's issue of Asian Scientist magazine carries an interview of Dr. Sania Nishtar about the new Sania Nishtar Health Fund and what inspired her to start Heartfile Health Financing. 

October 26, 2011

The Sania Nishtar Health Fund was launched at an event hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York on September 20, 2011. The fund has been set up to support the work of Heartfile Health Financing and has been created with the Global Innovation Award that Dr. Nishtar received in July from the Rockefeller Foundation. Keynote remarks at the launch were made by Sir George Alleyne, Syed Babar Ali, and Dr. Mehmood Khan. Participating agencies included Partners for a New Beginning at the Aspen Institute, the American Pakistan Foundation, the World Economic Forum and the World Heart Federation.

October 13, 2011

Our recent paper, “Heartfile Health Financing: Striving to achieve Health Equity in Pakistan,” has just been published on a World Health Organization hosted website for the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health. The conference commences on October 19, 2011. The paper is part of a series of case studies that present successful examples of policy action aiming to reduce health inequities. The paper can be downloaded here.

September 25, 2011

At the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative, Heartfile’s Commitment was selected from a larger pool of member commitments as an exemplary approach to addressing challenges in global health. The Commitment’s progress report was highlighted and represented by Heartfile founder, Dr. Sania Nishtar at the Progress Report Ceremony.

August 02, 2011

As part of its first annual Innovation Awards ceremony in New York held on July 7, 2011, the Rockefeller Foundation honored four Global Innovators, amongst them our president Dr. Sania Nishtar, who received the innovation award for her unique contributions to the field of global health. Other award recipients include President Bill Clinton, Jane Weru, executive director of the Akiba Mashinani Trust in Kenya and representatives from the microfinance organization Kiva in the Classroom.

July 18, 2011

The Heartfile Health Financing program, which relies on volunteers to achieve its objective of protecting poor patients against medical impoverishment, has recently honored its star volunteer, Mrs. Naheed Batool—a befitting response to the UN Secretary General’s call on people around the world to carry out volunteer work to mark the 93rd birthday of Nelson Mandela.

June 14, 2011

Through Heartfile Health Financing, we make assistance available to the poor who cannot afford to pay for healthcare and run the risk of spending catastrophically. Most of the patients we support are the poorest of the poor and we are often confronted with situations where patients need ongoing help beyond healthcare. The cases of patients supported through our program is illustrated here. We are looking for organizations that can help support these patients beyond healthcare and would be grateful if anyone has any ideas in this regard.

May 16, 2011

We have just launched our facebook page and look forward to interacting with you by soliciting your inputs through our discussion portal as well as through your comments on our news posts.

April 07, 2011

The Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) identifies, analyzes and disseminates information about programs working to improve health care for the poor in countries with large numbers of private providers. CHMI has profiled a number of projects, which are working to improve the quality and affordability of health care for the poor.

April 07, 2011

Sania Nishtar was inducted into University of Toledo's Medical Mission Hall of Fame.

November 04, 2011

Heartfile has made assistance available for victims of the recent flood through the Heartfile Health Financing program. The program currently provides assistance to patients who are prone to catastrophic expenditures on healthcare. The recent monsoon related floods have wreaked havoc in Pakistan. Decades of development outcomes have been wiped out and critical human security challenges have been precipitated. The organization’s viewpoints about the disaster can be accessed.

Heartfile is making assistance available for the victims of flood relief through the Heartfile Financing program. The program is currently providing assistance to patients who are prone to catastrophic expenditures on health care. Cash transfers from a health equity fund to health providers on behalf of patients to underwrite the cost of waivers for healthcare user’s fees aims to financially risk protect populations in the informal sector.

The centerpiece of this program is a web-based technology platform, integrated with mobile phone technology, which enables donors to view the use of their funds on a transaction basis and have the ability to instruct specific use of their funds; the system also enables donors to have full view of administrative costs incurred and above a certain category, enables them to request audit of any transaction or demand processing. Through tracking and time stamping as inherent features, it additionally allows assessment of workers performance and hence helps to institutionalize accountability. The views of the organization can be accessed here.

May 02, 2010

Rockefeller Foundation makes an opening donation To help the indigent patients of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. The donation would be used to test the pilot intervention in two wards of the hospital.

April 13, 2010

The Proof-of-Concept paper for Heartfile’s Health Financing project has been published as one of the background papers to WHO’s World Health Report 2010: “Health systems financing, the path to universal coverage”. The paper can be downloaded. Comments on the paper should be sent to sania@heartfile.org

April 13, 2010

The idea, experience and innovations of the pilot project, with the expansion plans of the program were shared in a satellite session of the conference. The discussions generated a lot of appreciation and interest amongst the participants. Representatives of various international organizations invited Heartfile, to explore options and avenues of deployment of the technology platform in their respective countries. 
 

March 14, 2010

Heartfile signed a contract with Valentia technologies on March 15 for maintenance of Heartfile Health Financing system’s web and desktop interfaces and its workflow and communication channels. Valentia technologies specializes in developing person-centric healthcare solutions.

April 09, 2010

The National Database Registration Authority has agreed to provide data verification services to Heartfile for ascertaining poverty status of patients applying for financing through Heartfile Health Financing. NADRA has developed a poverty verification system, which uses unique features of the national identity card to ascertain the status of poverty, based on a set of predetermined criteria, which are being nationally used in social protection programs.

July 14, 2009

The United Nation’s Secretary General visited Heartfile’s booth at the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Innovation Fair in Geneva on July 2009. He was briefed about the project’s innovations in donation management by Dr. Faraz Khalid, Project Manager, Heartfile Health Financing.

December 01, 2008

The United Nation’s Secretary General visited Heartfile’s booth at the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Innovation Fair in Geneva on July 2009. He was briefed about the project’s innovations in donation management by Dr. Faraz Khalid, Project Manager, Heartfile Health Financing.

March 28, 2010

The project has been launched in a pilot setting on March 29, 2010. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences has been chosen as the first pilot site. Assistance will be made available to deserving patients in Cardiology and Orthopedic wards through our Health Equity Fund.