2.1. Introduction & concept

At the start of the process, the concept of the Patient-Centered Framework (PCF) should be presented to the NTP at the country level. The vision for the PCF approach is summarized below.

The main advantage of the approach (as experienced by the early adopter countries) is that following the patient pathway along the continuum of care provides a structured approach to data consolidation and subsequent planning. Identifying gaps, barriers, and bottlenecks along this pathway while examining root causes from the user perspective as well as the service provider perspective, and examining the existing underlying health system in addition to the traditional epidemiological impact evaluation gives this approach the edge over traditional planning. Furthermore, the holistic and more participatory approach ensures earlier and better stakeholder engagement and commitment. The final outcome of the approach is a more resilient, responsive, evidence-based, and people-centered National Strategic Plan (NSP) and Global Fund proposal.

These advantages must be clearly communicated to stakeholders and decision-makers to achieve buy-in for using the PCF approach as part of the NSP and Global Fund processes.