Dr. Salma Burton's presentation outlines the six key building blocks of an effective health system: 1) service delivery, 2) health workforce, 3) health information systems, 4) medical products/vaccines/technologies, 5) health financing, and 6) governance. Each building block plays an important role in ensuring people have access to safe, effective, and quality health services. Strong coordination across these areas is needed to develop an integrated system that meets population health needs.
4. Service Delivery
Good health services – deliver safe, effective, good quality,
minimum waste
• Services delivered, be they prevention, treatment or
rehabilitation, may be delivered in the home, the
community, in the workplace or in health facilities.
• For good service delivery there are some wellestablished requirements:
– Raising demands for service through understanding the user
perspective, raising public knowledge and reducing financial,
cultural social and gender barriers
– Provide a package of integrated services based on population
need.
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5. Human Resources
All people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to
improve health
Includes:
• service providers, management and support workers
• Public and private sector workers
• Unpaid and paid workers
• Professional and lay workers
Strong correlation between health workforce density and
service coverage and health outcomes
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6. Health Management Information System
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A well functioning health information system is one that ensures
the production, analysis, dissemination and use of reliable and
timely health information. It involves three domains of health
information:
Health determinants;
Health systems performance; and
Health status.
To achieve this, a health information system must:
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Generate population and facility-based data
Have the capacity to detect, investigate, communicate and contain
events that threaten public health security at the place they occur,
and as soon as they occur.
Have the capacity to synthesize information
7. Medical Products Vaccines and Technologies
Essential medical products, vaccines and technologies
Assured quality: Safety, efficacy, cost effective
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National policies, standards, guidelines and
regulations that support policy.
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Information on prices, set and negotiate prices
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Quality assessment of products
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Procurement, storage and distribution systems
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Rational use of essential medicines,
commodities and equipment
Medical products are the second largest expenditure
Vaccines are the most cost effective health interventions
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8. Health Financing
• A mix of public and private financing and public and
private provision.
• Effective and efficient use of government allocated
resources.
• Raising additional funds where health needs are high and
revenues insufficient.
• Reducing reliance on out-of-pocket payments where they
are high.
• Improving efficiency of resource use and addressing
fragmentation of financing arrangements for different
types of services
• Promoting transparency and accountability in health
financing systems.
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Based on WHO Health system framework and “systems thinking” how the six building block relates to each other
The group is using the final draft of Health system rapid assessment to work through the country’s health systems
Good health services are those which deliver effective, safe, good quality personal and non-personal care to those who need it, when needed, with minimum waste. Services delivered, be they prevention, treatment or rehabilitation, may be
Human resources for health are all people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to protect and improve health. A country’s health workforce consists broadly of health service providers (including doctors, nurses, mid wives, laboratory and other technical staff, health workers, pharmacists, health volunteers) and health management staff and support workers. This includes: private as well as public sector health workers; unpaid and paid workers; lay and professional cadres. Overall, there is a strong positive correlation between health workforce density and service coverage and health outcomes. In any country, a “well-performing” health workforce is one that is available, competent, responsive and productive. To achieve this, actions are needed to manage dynamic labour markets that address entry into and exits from the health workforce, and improve the distribution and performance of existing health workers.
The generation and strategic use of information, intelligence and research on health is an integral part of the health system. Health management information includes health information and surveillance systems, the development of standardized tools and instruments and the collation and publication of international health statistics. Information in health is increasingly more than just a national concern. As part of efforts to create a more secure world, countries need to be on the alert and ready to respond collectively to the threat of epidemics and other public health emergencies. A well functioning health information system is one that ensures the production, analysis, dissemination and use of reliable and timely health information by decision-makers at different levels of the health system, both on a regular basis and also in emergencies. It involves three domains of health information:
Health determinants;
Health systems performance; and
Health status.
To achieve this, a health information system must:
Generate population and facility-based data from census, household surveys, civil registration data, public health surveillance, medical records, data on health services and health system resources.
It must have the capacity to detect, investigate, communicate and contain events that threaten public health security at the place they occur, and as soon as they occur.
It must also have the capacity to synthesize information and promote the availability and application of this knowledge.
A well-functioning health system ensures equitable access to essential medical products, vaccines and technologies of assured quality, safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness and their scientifically sound and cost effective use. To achieve these objectives, the following are needed:
National policies, standards, guidelines and regulations that support policy.
Information on prices and capacity to set and negotiate prices.
Quality assessment of priority products.
Procurement, storage and distribution systems that minimize leakage and waste.
It is important to promote rational use of essential medicines, commodities and equipment, through guidelines, strategies to assure adherence, reduce resistance, maximize patient safety and training.
Medical products, notably medicines, vaccines and technology, are the second-largest health expenditure after that of health workforce and therefore used efficiently.
A good health financing system raises adequate funds for health, in ways that ensure people can use needed services, and are protected from financial catastrophe or impoverishment associated with having to pay for them.
Most systems involve a mix of public and private financing and public and private provision. Important principles to guide any country’s approach to financing include:
Effective and efficient use of government allocated resources.
Raising additional funds where health needs are high and revenues insufficient.
Reducing reliance on out-of-pocket payments where they are high, by moving towards prepayment systems involving pooling of financial risks across population groups (taxation and the various forms of health insurance are all forms of pre-payment).
Taking additional steps, where needed, to improve social protection by ensuring the poor and other vulnerable groups have access to needed services.
Improving efficiency of resource use and addressing fragmentation of financing arrangements for different types of services or for vertical programmes.
Transparency and accountability in health financing systems are important for mobilizing additional resources, partnerships and efficiency.
The leadership and governance is the most critical building block of any health system. Many of things that are done outside the health sector impact on health negatively or positively. Therefore, this building block is about the role of the government in health and its relation to other actors whose activities impact on health. This involves overseeing and guiding the whole health system, private as well as public, in order to protect the public interest while ensuring equity. It involves reconciling competing demands for limited resources in changing circumstances such as decentralization or a growing private sector.
Key functions of Governance include:
Policy guidance: Formulating sector strategies, specific technical policies, defining goals, directions and spending priorities across services, identifying the roles of public, private and voluntary actors and the role of civil society.
Intelligence and oversight. Ensuring generation, analysis and use of information on trends, service access, coverage, safety, responsiveness, financial protection and health outcomes especially for vulnerable groups, effects of policies and reforms on the political environment and opportunities for action.
Collaboration and coalition-building across sectors in government and with actors outside government, including civil society, to influence action on key determinants of health and access to health services, to generate support for public policies.
And Regulation which involves designing regulations and incentives and ensuring they are fairly enforced.