Olga Zues

Olga Zues, a health-system and financing specialist, has 20 years of experience in international development. She focuses on the design and implementation of comprehensive reform strategies to strengthen health systems and public finance management. Her expertise includes benefits design to move towards universal health coverage, arrangements to support efficiency gains and service delivery improvements, innovative payment mechanisms, sustainability strategies, and institutional development. She has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the UK Department for International Development – now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – and numerous ministries of health, finance, justice, and education.

As a health economist, Zues supports the Abt Britain team in analysis of key public health challenges, priorities, and solutions tailored to country contexts. She also provides technical support to field operations and project implementation, ensuring quality of execution either through direct support or management of local expertise. She provides thought leadership in priority areas for Abt Britain and supports Abt Global in the global development community, contributing to on-going discussions and debates.  

Zues has varied Abt experience working 17 years as a health economist, technical director and chief of party for numerous health system strengthening projects in Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Ghana and Ukraine. As an independent consultant for WHO, she supported the ministries of health in Ukraine and Uzbekistan in overhauling its healthcare financing policies and establishing the national health purchaser institutions. As a policy advisor to the Kyrgyz Republic MOH, she built MOH capacities in comprehensive health planning. Before that, she consulted with the World Bank on Russia’s efforts to refine provider payment systems. 

Expertise:

• Health-system and public-finance management strengthening and implementation
• Strategic health purchasing  
• Monitoring and evaluation  
• Program management 
• Training 

Key Projects:

• Global Health Finance and Governance Project (Ukraine, Ghana, Global TB activity) 
• Regional ZdravReform and ZdravPlus projects in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)  
• Primary Health Care (PHC) Strengthening and Health System Strengthening AZSHIP projects in Azerbaijan 

Publications:

• Ukraine: Review of Health Financing Reforms 2016-2019, WHO-WB Joint Report, 2019 
• Health System Barriers and Innovations for Better NCD Outcomes. Country Assessment. Moldova. M. Skarphedinsdottir, B. Smith, A. Ferrario, O. Zues, J. Habicht, J. Cercone, A. Ciobanu, S. Domente. Technical Report, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2013 
• The Design and Implementation of Per Capita Payment Systems in Context of Primary Health Care-Centered Health Systems Development in Low-and Middle-Income Countries. Cashin C., O’Dougherty S., Zues O., Routh S., Khe N., Gubonova O., Kadyrova N., Kutonov E., McEuen M. 2007 
• Case-Based Hospital Payment Systems: A Step-by-Step Guide for Design and Implementation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Cashin C., O’Dougherty, S., Samyshkin, E., Katsaga, A., Kutanov E., Lyashuk K., Zues (Zyuz), O. 2005. 
• The Gender Gap in Primary Health Care Resource Utilization in Central Asia. Cashin C., Borowitz M., and  Zues O. Health Policy, and Planning. 2002