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Health Systems
Strengthening (HSS) is a very high priority in global health agenda. Global Policy Group emphasized the need
for WCO to build capacity in National Health Policies, Strategies and Plans
(NHPSP) to enable them to support national governments and all stakeholders
of health in developing robust NHPSP in order to strengthen health systems.
WHA 64 Agenda Item
13.4 is to discuss the progress of Health Systems Strengthening globally
and it is supported by five EB resolutions namely EB128.R8, EB128.R9,
EB128.R10, EB128.R11 and EB128.R12. The EB128.R8 is Sustainable Health
Financing Structures and Universal Coverage and EB128.R12 is Health system
strengthening through NHPSP Process. The resolution WHA 62.12 emphasize the
need for Health Systems Strengthening through Primary Health Care Approach
and the World Health Assembly Resolution WHA 58.33 urges the need for
sustainable health financing, universal coverage and social health
insurance to address health inequities and prevent impoverishment due to
catastrophic health expenditure.
Responding to the
global need SEARO created National Health Policy and Health Financing
Technical Unit of the Department of Health Systems to provide technical
assistance to Member States in National Health Policies, Strategies Plans
and in Health Care Financing
General objective
To assist Member
States to engage in Policy Dialogues through NHPSP Process and to extend
social protection through fair, adequate and sustainable financing.
Specific objectives
To assist Member
States:
To get engaged in policy dialogue in
national development agenda and to adopt better health policies and to
include health in all development policies
In improving efficiency in use of resources,
effectively targeting them as a priority area for the public health needs
of the poor; and
In securing sustainable increase in the
volume of (domestic) resources available for health.
Strategies
To assist Member
States by:
Facilitating
Member States to conduct policy dialogues with relevant stakeholders and
getting engaged in the National Health Policy, Strategies and Planning
Process to guide countries with developing better health policies and
strategies.
Engaging
Primary Health Care approaches and introducing public health interventions in
health systems strengthening programmes.
Maintaining
appropriate balance between investment in Medical Care and Public Health.
Developing social protection strategies
to ensure equity in health financing.
Two particular approaches within this are important:
Priority coverage of the large informal
sector in the Region, and
Given the country contexts in the Region,
the system should be anchored at the community level with the potential
to increase its scope/integrated
into broader national systems in the future;
Effectively
linking with other components of health systems and with sectors that
impact health financing; e.g. drug procurement and distribution; and
(monetary) incentives for health workers to
retain them in poor and marginalized areas;
Profiling health in national
development to increase and sustain both political and financial commitment
to the sector, eg. by
building on the considerable efforts generated by the report of the
Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) in the Region; and linking
with the related area of social determinants of health, including the work
by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health.
Medium-term outputs
Regional
workshops organized annually to advocate the need of ensuring fairness in
health financing and social protection;
Member
countries assisted to link National Health Policies, Strategies and Plans
in the policy-making process and in national health plans development;
Country
capacity development in NHPSP by conducting Regional, National and
Sub-National training programmes.
Workshops
organized to introduce the systematic use of other tools for policy (e.g.
costing for priorities) to Member countries;
Regional
strategies on Universal Health Coverage is developed and adopted by Member
States and advocacy documents on UHC and policy making published;
All
countries reflect multi-sectoral financial
planning for health in development of expenditure plans.
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