There is now consensus that a major, urgent effort must be made to strengthen health systems if financial commitments enabled by the new Development Assistance in Health architecture are to succeed in improving the health conditions of the poor and achieve the HNP-related MDGs.
Health system strengthening, however, is neither an end in itself nor a single sector effort. Adequate financing, a sound regulatory framework for private-public collaboration, good governance, robust insurance schemes, provider payment and incentive mechanisms, timely and accurate information, well-trained personnel, and a basic infrastructure must all be in place to ensure equitable access to effective health, nutrition and population interventions and a continuum of care to save and improve people's lives.
Well-organized and sustainable health systems are necessary to achieve results, and the extent to which these results are achieved must be systematically monitored and evaluated. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation systems must be intimately linked to policy design and management. Only in this way can we ensure that people's health and daily lives are really being improved with investments in health systems.
To better appreciate why health systems matter, read about Elizabeth, and think about whether she might have been saved.
|
RSS