Building Resilience While Reorienting Health Systems With PHC And Public Health
The International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) was invited by WHO to participate in the WHO UHC Partnership (UHC-P) Global Meeting 2024, held in Lyon, France, from December 11 to 13. The event built on the momentum of WHO's new global health strategy (GPW14), emphasizing the need to reorient health systems toward a primary health care (PHC) approach to advance universal health coverage (UHC) and health security. Over 125 countries were represented, including donors, partners, and WHO staff from across the organization's three levels.
Key Takeaways from the Meeting:
The three-day event served as a vital forum for:
- Sharing best practices and innovative interventions in health systems.
- Identifying challenges and bottlenecks in achieving health systems resilience.
- Strengthening global and regional collaboration among stakeholders.
Spotlight on Health Systems Resilience
A key highlight was the plenary session on Health Systems Resilience, organized by WHO's Health Systems Resilience and Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) Team (led by Sohel Saikat) on day 2. The session underscored the need to embed EPHFs at the core of resilience-building efforts to mitigate acute and chronic stressors while maintaining essential health services.
IANPHI Secretary General, Anne-Catherine Viso, invited by WHO, participated in a high-level panel discussion, emphasizing:
- The critical partnership between WHO and IANPHI.
- The unique role of national public health institutions in ensuring inter-sectoral responsibility for EPHFs and public health services.
She underscored NPHI's strong public health expertise and practice through the continuum of actions across the EPHFs and that NPHIs are key element of health system. A well functional health systems with equitable UHC allow NPHI to collect data for surveillance and monitoring of the health status of the population and to develop and implement public health interventions to improve population's health leaving no one behind.
Operationalizing Resilience in Health Systems
Drawing from lessons learned during COVID-19 and other crises, the discussion highlighted that resilience is not an automatic outcome of health systems strengthening or emergency preparedness; it requires deliberate action, investment, and strategic planning.
Key insights included:
- In humanitarian settings, applying the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN) approach is crucial for resilience, ensuring sustainable, long-term impact.
- Within WHO, opportunities exist to integrate program-specific efforts toward building resilient health systems that support UHC, health security, and better health outcomes.
- Regional learning and best practice sharing play a vital role in scaling successful strategies across countries.
Looking Ahead
With GPW14 and the new phase of UHC-P, there is an opportunity to rethink and reshape health systems. Investing in resilience not only strengthens public health systems but also delivers long-term economic and societal benefits, a critical necessity in global fiscal constraint. As global efforts continue, IANPHI and WHO remain committed to collaborate with national authorities and partners to drive health systems resilience, ensuring inclusive, effective and sustainable health services for all.
Contact:
WHO: Sohel Saikat
IANPHI: Anne-Catherine Viso