Health Systems
Health SystemsThis piece was written by Kate Gooding, Gabrielle Appleford, Nicola Wiafe from Oxford Policy Management (OPM) and originally appeared on the OPM website. The success of national policies and plans for universal health coverage depends on implementation. Much of this implementation takes place at the local level, where health services are managed and delivered. This… Read more
In this video, Jasmine Kalha, QualityRights Gujarat, discusses the benefits of a rights-based approach to mental health, the QualityRights framework in the context of health systems, the role that peer support should play in QualityRights, and her favourite Article of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In this video, Soumitra Pathare,… Read more
Interview: Evidence review on health systems strengthening Due to the lack of clear definitions and the potentially huge volume of evidence, comprehensive reviews of health systems strengthening (HSS) interventions are relatively uncommon. In this interview lead author Sophie Witter (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh) discusses one such rapid evidence review, recently commissioned by the UK Department for… Read more
Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) is used to guide the implementation of a programme, understand the performance of the programme, and assess the best approach to future developments. To ensure the success of healthcare system reforms, and projects being implemented around them, an innovative MEL design is needed. Often, traditional models measuring the outputs of… Read more
In recent years, the global health security agenda has gained prominence, as it pursues a multilateral and multi-sectoral approach to respond to health emergencies. It aims to strengthen capacity at a global and national level to prevent, detect, and respond to the spread of infectious diseases. Despite great progress in improving access to healthcare for all,… Read more
Effective health planning is critical in ensuring affordable, accessible, and high quality health services for all. Many low- and middle-income countries rely on donor funding to establish or maintain the basic healthcare services, and often struggle to ensure sustainability of these when sources of funding in the sector change. Multilateral organisations and government partners have… Read more
According to the World Bank, fragility, conflict, and violence is a critical development challenge that threatens efforts to end extreme poverty, affecting both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many of the world’s crises are caused by or exacerbated by fragility, from violent conflict to internal and external displacements and climate shocks. Compared to other LMICs, fragile… Read more
The ability of countries to provide available, affordable, and high quality healthcare services to their populations has become a global priority. However, at least half of the population around the world still don’t have access to essential healthcare, and around 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty because they have to pay for healthcare. Universal… Read more
Capacity building is an important element in health for successfully tackling social health inequalities by improving the capacity of health actors and institutions at national, regional, and local levels. Capacity building looks at “development of sustainable skills, organisational structures, resources, and commitment to health improvement in health and other sectors, to prolong and multiply health gains”…. Read more
Vimal Kumar, principal consultant in the Oxford Policy Management Health team, discusses the importance of procurement and supply chain management in supporting effective policy reforms. Ensuring availability, affordability, and quality of commodities (for example medicines) to provide services to the patients is one of the key outcomes which procurement and supply chain management establishes. This… Read more
EVA-BHN is an £18.86m health voice and accountability programme working at community, district and province level in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) since February 2014. It is part of DFID’s Provincial Health and Nutrition Programme (PHNP) to support delivery of an Essential Health Services Package (EHSP) by the Governments of Punjab and KP. This assessment… Read more