A culture of continual improvement
and innovation has driven a marked
improvement in on-time delivery of
medicines, health products and
equipment in many countries.
made services more accessible, timely
and affordable for citizens, especially
among underserved populations in
rural areas. In the focal provinces, more
doctors have been retained, service
utilization at primary care centers has
increased by 7 percent and the rate of
inappropriate referrals to higher centers
has dropped by 30 per cent.
When systems for health are strong,
people receive better quality care
and more people can receive it. Many
countries with strong health systems are
making great strides toward ensuring
that distance, inability to pay or stigma
do not exclude people from receiving
the quality health services they need.
Senegal and Kenya have worked to find
efficiencies in their delivery of services
and health insurance coverage, boosting
both coverage and sustainability of their
respective health systems.
Improvements to procurement and
supply chain management are also
helping to build strong systems for health.
Over the last three years, a culture of
continual improvement and innovation
has driven a marked improvement
in on-time delivery of medicines,
health products and equipment in
many countries. Overall savings have
come through greater use of a pooled
procurement mechanism. The efficiency,
robustness and reliability form systems for
health that can meet daily needs and for
what may come in the future.
When we think about improving
health in our world and ending AIDS,
TB and malaria as epidemics, we need
to think big, long term and efficiently.
We need systems for health built to
be resilient and sustainable. Retaining
attention and commitment to these
systems is essential to build on gains
of the Millennium Development Goals
in order to effectively progress toward
the Sustainable Development Goals.
We need systems for health that are
themselves strong and healthy. ■
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