Sustainable financing for SA’s school health programme

The Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) in South Africa has faced persistent challenges over the years, marked by inadequate and inequitable resource allocation and limited capacity to address the diverse health needs of young people across different school phases and regions.

In response, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), through the South African-German Multisectoral HIV Prevention Programme, engaged Genesis Analytics to support the South African government in strengthening the costing, budgeting and financing mechanisms for the ISHP. This collaboration also aimed to mobilise additional financial resources to enable the effective implementation of the programme.

We provided technical assistance to key government stakeholders, including the National Departments of Health, Basic Education, and Social Development. The focus was on establishing sustainable financing arrangements for the ISHP and supporting the mobilisation of funds to ensure a cost-effective, national rollout of the programme.

Our approach included conducting a detailed baseline assessment of the ISHP to guide subsequent cost modelling. This work culminated in the development of a comprehensive national resource needs model for the school health services component of the ISHP. The model provided granular estimates of resource requirements, broken down by school phase and service category. Additionally, we developed a provincial budget bid template and formulated financing recommendations to enhance the Department of Health’s budgeting processes for the ISHP. These tools supplied reliable data to support resource mobilisation efforts.

To further strengthen the programme, we drafted a proposal for the Department of Health to expand the HPV conditional grant to include critical resources necessary for the effective delivery of school health services. These efforts collectively aimed to equip the ISHP with the financial and operational capacity required to better meet the health needs of South African youth.