Integration of Health Systems and Priority Health, Nutrition, and Population Interventions : A Framework for Analysis and Policy Choices
A longstanding debate on health system organization relates to the benefits of integrating programs that emphasize specific interventions into mainstream health systems to increase access and improve health outcomes. This debate has long been chara...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/08/9930197/integration-health-systems-priority-health-nutrition-population-interventions-framework-analysis-policy-choices http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13713 |
| Summary: | A longstanding debate on health system
organization relates to the benefits of integrating programs
that emphasize specific interventions into mainstream health
systems to increase access and improve health outcomes. This
debate has long been characterized by polarization of views
and ideologies, with protagonists for and against
integration arguing relative merits of each approach.
Recently, the debate has been rekindled due to substantial
rises in externally funded programs for priority health,
nutrition, and population (HNP) interventions and an
increase in international efforts aimed at health system
strengthening. In this paper the author present a conceptual
framework and an analytical approach to define and assess
the nature and extent of integration in relation to critical
health system functions. The framework can also be used to
systematically compare and contrast programs in different
settings to generate meaningful evidence to inform policy.
In this framework, the author defines integration as the
extent, pattern, and rate of adoption and eventual
assimilation of priority health interventions into each of
the critical functions of a health system, which include,
inter alia: (i) governance, (ii) financing, (iii) planning,
(iv) service delivery, (v) monitoring and evaluation, and
(vi) demand generation. The framework and the analytical
approach are intended for evaluative and formative studies
of policies, systems, and programs. |
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