PLANNING PROPOSAL IMPROVING CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IN BULOBAZI DISTRICT

Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice in making a planning proposal to develop a
project to address a health need. It will assess your ability to:
? Write to a prescribed format following a proposal structure
? Identify, from an outline situation analysis, the health needs of a community
? Formulate a response which addresses those needs, and sets priorities where appropriate, uses
given reading and your own experience, and is feasible and logical
? Move from general concepts to details of costs, staff and timetable
? Give you confidence, having done it once, for future occasions.
Background to the task
The central government of Kalitopia, in its new long term strategic statement (2025 Vision for
Health), has identified a high number of individuals suffering (or at risk from) cardiovascular
diseases in the country. Cardiovascular diseases are a group of non-communicable disorders of
the heart and blood vessels including1:
? coronary heart disease (also known as ischaemic heart disease) – disease of the blood
vessels supplying the heart muscle
? cerebrovascular disease (also known as stroke) – disease of the blood vessels supplying
the brain
The Ministry of Health is therefore requiring all districts to develop proposals for improving
cardiovascular health services as a matter of high priority. A World Bank Health Project in
cooperation with the ‘Basic Needs Foundation – Kalitopia’ has a component focusing on this, and
the District Health Planning Group for Bulobazi District has been asked to develop an outline
costed proposal to access funding from this project.
Funds have been provisionally earmarked for the project in Bulobazi subject to a satisfactory
proposal being developed to improve cardiovascular health services. These funds are:
? Recurrent funding of 50,000 shillings per year in year 1, updated by 10% in year 2 and a
further 10% in year 3;
? Capital funds totaling 100,000 shillings over the three years.
These funds are additional to the regular health budget (details in the Bulobazi District profile) and
which is not expected to increase over the three years.
The task
You are part of the District Health Planning Group within Bulobazi District. Other members of the
planning group are the District Medical Officer, the Assistant District Commissioner, and a
representative of the community. The District Health Planning Group needs to prepare the planning
proposal for improving cardiovascular health services for the whole District, to be considered at the
next meeting of the project planning team and you have been asked to prepare the first draft. The
proposal will cover a 3 year period from January 2016 to December 2018. The current date is
October 2015.
You, therefore, have to decide, within the resources allocated and based on your knowledge of the
District, what strategies should be planned for the District. This should be written as a planning
proposal, with a completed budgetStructure of the proposal
Your assignment should be written in the form of a project proposal (rather than an academic essay).
The project methodology requires you to use the following headings in submitting your proposal:
1. Situation analysis setting out key issues (no more than 500 words)
2. Statement of the objectives of the project
3. Outline of the proposal (what strategies you propose should be set up, what each strategy
should achieve; and the main activities needed for each strategy)
4. Justification of the proposal (why you have selected your particular strategies)
5. Resource implications (what staff, equipment etc. will be required in addition to the existing
budget for the District). A budget for each of the three years should be included. A blank
budget sheet is Attachment 3. It is recommended that you use this format for your proposal)
6. Implementation schedule for the proposed activities (an outline programme of who will do
what, in what order, and when). A blank Gantt chart (Attachment 4) is available to develop this
implementation schedule, but feel free to use any other format if deemed appropriate.
7. Monitoring & evaluation. Based on your objectives, how you would measure the success of
the project, including selection of criteria for the objectives and indicators for each criteria and
source of information.
The Bulobazi District profile (Attachment 1), including the schedule of unit costs, should be consulted
in preparing the proposal, but some of the information may be redundant. For any costs or
information which you need but are not given, you should make a reasonable assumption and say
clearly that you are making an assumption. Note also that information is not always totally accurate or
consistent and you may need to make judgements about this.Situation analysis. A brief situation analysis and clear outline of the specific
problem to be addressed focusing on aspects relevant to the topic (maximum
500 words).
10%
Objectives. Clear, measurable and feasible objectives related to both health
status and service delivery for the project which arrive from the situational
analysis and government policies.
5%
Outline proposal. Clear description of each strategy for what will be done to
achieve each of the objectives and activities for each of the strategies. All
strategies and activities need to feasible and realistic.
20%
Justification of outline proposal. Ability to argue a case, to apply ideas and
use relevant material from reading and experience which shows why your
strategies are the appropriate means to achieve the objectives.
15%
Resource implications. Logically derived from proposal, clearly thought
through, appropriate and properly listed by strategy and including budget with
clear distinction between recurrent and capital costs.
20%
Implementation. Logical sequence, feasible time scales, and sensible
allocation of tasks.
10%
Equity and gender. Appropriate consideration of equity and gender issues
throughout the proposal.
5%
Monitoring & evaluation. Relevant and sensible criteria, indicators and source
of information indicated.
10%
Presentation. The assignment follows the general guidance for preparing
assignments. The proposal’s format and structure is user-friendly. Any
references used are cited using the expected citation style.
5%