Washington, D.C., 29 September 2016 (PAHO/WHO) - With new diseases emerging every year, severe weather events on the rise, and large numbers of people living in disaster-prone areas, the countries of the Americas now more than ever need to be prepared to respond to health emergencies.
Toward that end, the region's health leaders have endorsed a framework for integrated efforts to ensure that health systems are more resilient in future health emergencies. The endorsement came during the 55th Directing Council meeting of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
"One of the key lessons the world learned from the Ebola epidemic was that weak health systems-those that cannot meet people's health needs in normal times-cannot cope effectively with epidemics or other health emergencies," said James Fitzgerald, director of PAHO/WHO's Health Systems and Services department. "Preparedness requires more than emergency plans and simulation exercises. It means strengthening other core aspects of health systems, from human resources and access to medicines, to health information systems and even legal measures to support public health action."
The new "Resilient Health Systems" framework was developed by PAHO/WHO to provide an integrated approach for its technical cooperation with countries in the areas of disaster preparedness, risk reduction, and response; disease surveillance and outbreak management; and health system strengthening and universal health, including in the areas of health sector governance and regulation.
The framework calls for actions and investments in all these areas and within a broader sustainable development framework that fosters human development, social participation, and economic and social stability.
The framework urges countries to continue strengthening their implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), the internationally agreed rules that govern how countries report and respond to unexpected outbreaks and other health events of potential international concern. IHR implementation should be approached as a holistic process and embedded in national policy development and planning, legislative action, and regulatory frameworks. It should include improvements in health services organization to support infection prevention and control, strengthening of health surveillance networks and laboratory capacity, and development of health workforce competencies in the areas of outbreak and emergency response.
The framework emphasizes investments in primary health-care services as also essential, ensuring that these services are universally available and linked together in networks that are "adaptable and responsive."
It also calls for ensuring reserve capacity, with the necessary supply of appropriate health workers, financing, medicines, and health technologies to allow a rapid scale-up of health services during acute or sustained health events.
"The premise is that investing in health systems resilience is considerably more cost-efficient than financing emergency responses," said Fitzgerald. "But a fragmented approach is not enough. We need to address both traditional disaster and disease risks as well as longer-term internal and external risks that affect the ability of health systems to respond well in both normal times and during health emergencies."
Links
- Resilient Health Systems
- 55th PAHO Directing Council