A
Aid effectiveness: effectiveness of development aid in achieving economic or human development or development targets. According to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (see below) five principles are key to improved aid effectiveness: Ownership (partner countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies, and strategies and coordinate development actions); Alignment (donors base their overall support on partner countries' national development strategies, institutions and procedures); Harmonization (donors' actions are more harmonized, transparent and collectively effective); Managing for results (partner countries and donors shift focus to development results and results get measured); and Mutual Accountability (donors, partners and countries are accountable for development results). See Paris Declaration.
Annual Health Sector Performance report: a yearly report (may be by a government agency or independent body) that assesses the health sector's performance against set targets and indicators. Content may include health outcomes, service utilization, financial efficiency, and equity in access to care. [Report will vary by country. Search for "Health Sector Performance Report" for your specific country]
C
Commitment: "in accounting usage, commitments refer to a stage in the expenditure process at which contracts or other forms of agreement are entered into, generally for future delivery of goods or services. A liability will not be recognized until delivery of the item, but the government is contractually committed to meeting the obligation once delivery is made. The term is also used in a more general, noncontractual sense to mean firm promises of the government made in policy statements."
cYMP for Immunization (Country multi-year immunization plan): a national plan outlining strategies for immunization programs. https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/policies/who-recommendations-for-routine-immunization---summary-tables
D
Decentralization: political reform designed to promote local autonomy, decentralization entails changes in authority and financial responsibility for health services. Hence, decentralization can have a large impact on health service performance. There are several forms of decentralization affecting the health sector in different ways: (i) deconcentration, which transfers authority and responsibility from the central level of the Ministry of Health to its field offices; (ii) delegation, which transfers authority and responsibility from the central level of the Ministry of Health to organizations not directly under its control; (iii) devolution, which transfers authority and responsibility from the central level of the Ministry of Health to lower level autonomous units of government; (iv) privatization, which involves the transfer of ownership and government functions from public to private bodies, which may consist of voluntary organizations and for‐profit and not‐for‐profit private organizations, with varying degree of government regulation.
Digital Health Strategy: a national digital health strategy identifies a common vision for how to address health priorities through the coordinated and strategic use of interoperable digital technologies. It expands upon country health plans by articulating how digital technologies and data systems will be designed and used to meet country health-sector goals. Components of a national digital health strategy typically include ( Vision, Objectives, Country digital health enabling environment Landscape, Governance structure and stakeholders, Strategic priorities, projects, timeline, Costed implementation plan, Monitoring ,evaluation and learning.Note 2: Advancing National Digital Health Strategies (usaid.gov); https://www.who.int/health-topics
E
Entitlements: refer to a set of health services, medicines and vaccines to which people are legally granted access to financial protection aspects addressed. This means that people or some population groups can access a defined set of services, medicines, and vaccines for free or for an affordable cost. Entitlements can derive from several mechanisms including free services granted to the whole population or some population groups (e.g. vaccination services to prevent infectious diseases, and emergency services), mandatory insurance schemes, or assistance programs. In the present context, mechanisms providing entitlements are to be understood as those that are not subject to voluntary contributions by the users. While reviewing entitlements, the respondent is invited to consider all the relevant pieces of legislation that cover the aforementioned mechanisms (e.g. Public Health Act, Legislation governing mandatory Health Insurance schemes, health legislation covering specific diseases (e.g. HIV) and/or specific groups (women/children).
Environment, Climate Change and Health Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for addressing the health impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change
Essential Public Health Functions: the health authority’s functions with regard to: (i) monitoring, evaluation and analysis of health status; (ii) surveillance, research and control of the risks and threats to public health; (iii) health promotion; (iv) social participation in health; (v) development of policies and institutional capacity for public health planning and management; (vi) strengthening of public health regulation and enforcement capacity; (vii) evaluation and promotion of equitable access to necessary health services; (viii) human resources development and training in public health; (ix) quality assurance in personal and population‐based health services; (x) research in public health; and (xi) reduction of the impact of emergencies and disasters on health.
F
Fiscal space: the capacity of government to provide additional budgetary resources for a desired purpose without any prejudice to the sustainability of its financial position.
G
Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programmes strategy: a global framework by WHO for preventing and controlling HIV, Hepatitis, and STIs. https://www.who.int/teams/global-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-programmes/strategies/global-health-sector-strategies
Governance: i) the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country's affairs at all levels, comprising the complex mechanisms, processes, relationships and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their rights and obligations and mediate their differences ; (ii) the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good, including the processes by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them ; (iii) the process of creating an organizational vision and mission —what it will be and what it will do ‐ in addition to defining the goals and objectives that should be met to achieve the vision and mission; of articulating the organization, its owners and the policies that derive from these values ‐ policies concerning the options that its members should have in order to achieve the desired outcomes; and adopting the management necessary for achieving those results and a perform.
H
Health: the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Health Financing Strategy: a national plan outlining strategies for financing the health sector, ensuring affordability and access to health services. It considers revenue generation (funding sources), spending allocation, and financial protection mechanisms. This programme strategic plan is a roadmap outlining changes needed in revenue raising, pooling funds, purchasing essential health services, and overall health system governance. Overall, a well-designed health financing strategy is a crucial tool for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which means everyone has access to the health services they need without suffering financial hardship. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/council-on-the-economics-of-health-for-all/who_councileh4a_councilbrieffinal-no2.pdf?sfvrsn=bd61dcfe_5&download=true
Health in all policies: a policy or reform designed to secure healthier communities, by integrating public health actions with primary care and by pursuing healthy public policies across sectors.
Health in All Policies (HiAP) Strategies: an approach to integrate health considerations into all government policies to improve overall population health. https://www.who.int/activities/promoting-health-in-all-policies-and-intersectoral-action-capacities
Health Legislation and Health Laws: laws and regulations governing the health sector, including healthcare provision, drug safety, and public health emergencies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1306610/
Health planning: (i) a set of decisions or commitments to pursue courses of action aimed at achieving defined goals for improving health, stating or inferring the values that underpin these decisions; the health policy may or may not specify the source of funding that can be applied to the action, the planning and management arrangements to be adopted for implementation of the policy, and the relevant institutions to be involved. (ii) a general statement of understanding [to] guide decision making that results from an agreement or consensus among relevant partners on the issues to be addressed and on the approaches or strategies to deal with them.
Health Promotion Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for promoting healthy behaviors and preventing disease. https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-promotion
Health Sector Reform: i) “a movement aimed at reconfiguring health services, dominant in the 90s in the framework of the New Public Management, typically including the following components: separating the roles of financing and provision and the possible introduction of a managed market; developing alternative financing mechanisms, particularly user charges and health insurance; decentralization; limiting the public sector and encouraging a greater role for the private sector; prioritizing the use of cost‐ effectiveness techniques”. (ii) changing the rules of the game and the balance of power within the health sector.
Health system: (i) all the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore and/or maintain health ; (ii) the people, institutions and resources, arranged together in accordance with established policies, to improve the health of the population they serve, while responding to people’s legitimate expectations and protecting them against the cost of ill‐health through a variety of activities whose primary intent is to improve health.
Health system building blocks: an analytical framework used by WHO to describe health systems, disaggregating them into 6 (six) core components: leadership and governance (stewardship), service delivery, health workforce, health information system, medical products, vaccines and technologies, and health system financing.
Health system functions: an analytical framework describing four key work packages health systems have to perform: providing services; generating the human and physical resources that make service delivery possible; raising and pooling the resources used to pay for health care; and, the function of stewardship – setting and enforcing the rules of the game and providing strategic direction for all the different actors involved. These functions are performed in the pursuit of three goals: health, responsiveness and fair financing.
Health system performance: (i) the level of achievement of the health system relative to resources. (ii) the degree to which a health system carries out its functions ‐ (service provision, resource generation, financing and stewardship) to achieve its goals.
Health systems strengthening: (i) the process of identifying and implementing the changes in policy and practice in a country’s health system, so that the country can respond better to its health and health system challenges ; (ii) any array of initiatives and strategies that improves one or more of the functions of the health system and that leads to better health through improvements in access, coverage, quality, or efficiency.
Hospital detention: refers to a practice of detaining persons in hospital facilities against their will or withholding the remains of a deceased person often due to non-payment of medical bills and user fees.
J
Justiciable rights: refer to the types of matters that a court can adjudicate. If a case is non-justiciable then the court cannot hear it.
L
Legislation: shall be understood as encompassing any legal rule existing and applicable within a country. This includes a wide array of legal instruments, including the constitution which often represents the higher source of legislation in the country, formal written laws such as statutory laws (enacted by a legislative body such as a parliament and also known as primary legislation), regulatory and administrative laws (passed by executive authorities of the government and also known as secondary legislation), contracts, case law (court rulings), and customary laws.
M
Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and Ageing (MNCAH): a global strategy by WHO focusing on improving health outcomes for mothers, newborns, children, adolescents, and older adults. https://www.who.int/teams/maternal-newborn-child-adolescent-health-and-ageing/covid-19
Medium‐term plan and expenditure framework (MTEF): i) a tool for linking policy, planning and budgeting over a medium‐term (3 years) across the whole of government and at a sectoral level. It consists of a top‐down resource envelope, a bottom‐up estimation of the current and medium‐term costs of existing policy and, ultimately, the matching of these costs with available resources in the context of the annual budget process. (ii) a rolling plan, typically for 3 years, which focuses on translating the national strategic plan into organization of work, allocation of resources and division of tasks for implementation, and links the national strategic plan with the operational plans. MTEF often have two dimensions: identification of national investment priorities, updating the M&E framework, defining the overall resource envelope; and allocation of resources to objectives and projection of future resource needs and availability.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for improving mental health and addressing substance abuse issues. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240031029
MoH Annual Report: A yearly report published by the Ministry of Health summarizing the health sector's performance, challenges, and future directions. Content varies by country but may include health indicators, program achievements, financial data, and priorities for the coming year.[Report will vary by country. Search for "Ministry of Health" and "Annual Report" for your specific country]
Monitoring and Evaluation of Health Plan: The systematic collection and analysis of data to assess the progress and effectiveness of a health plan in achieving its goals.
N
National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS): a national plan outlining strategies for preventing, detecting, and responding to public health emergencies. The NAPHS is a country-owned, multi-year planning process that can accelerate the implementation of IHR core capacities. It is based on a One Health for all-hazards, whole-of-government approach. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/world-health-organization-strategy-2022-2026-national-action-plan-health-security
National Development Plan (NDPs): a National Development Plan is a government-led plan outlining the country's development priorities for a set period, often including health sector goals. The NDP is a strategic document outlining a country's course for future development. It typically covers medium to long-term goals, and priorities for achieving them. The UNDP works with countries to ensure their NDPs align with broader international development agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals (https://www.undp.org/).
National disease/programme strategy or national disease/programme strategic plan: a strategic plan to guide the control of a particular disease or health problem at national level, with the intended actions to achieve the goals of a given programme. Ideally aligned to the national health strategic plan.
National health strategy, also known as a national health strategic plan or national health plan: a process of organizing decisions and actions to achieve particular ends, set within a policy, providing “a model of an intended future situation and a programme of action predetermined to achieve the intended situation”. Refers to the broad, long term lines of action to achieve the policy vision and goals for the health sector, incorporating “the identification of suitable points for intervention, the ways of ensuring the involvement of other sectors, the range of political, social, economic and technical factors, as well as constraints and ways of dealing with them”.
National Human Resources for Health strategy: a national plan outlining strategies for developing a competent and well-distributed health workforce. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789241511131
National Malaria Strategic Plans: countries develop their own strategic plans based on their specific context and malaria burden. It details core interventions, malaria control and elimination efforts at the national level. These plans typically cover a set timeframe and outline strategies for controlling or eliminating malaria within that country. https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme
National Nutrition Nutrition and Food Safety Strategy: a national plan outlining strategies for improving nutrition and ensuring food safety. https://www.who.int/health-topics/nutrition
National Prevention Health Strategy: a national plan outlining strategies for preventing disease and promoting health at the population level. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240038349
Neglected Diseases Plan: National Plans Addressing Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): Many countries develop plans specifically targeting Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which are a subset of neglected diseases. These plans outline strategies for: (1) Prevention: This could involve mass drug administration, vector control, and improving sanitation; (2) Control: This focuses on reducing disease transmission and morbidity ; and (3). Elimination: This aims to completely stop the transmission of a specific NTD within a defined geographic area. https://www.who.int/health-topics/neglected-tropical-diseases
Newborn and Child Health Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for improving the health and survival of newborns, infants, children, and adolescents. https://www.who.int/teams/maternal-newborn-child-adolescent-health-and-ageing/child-health
Noncommunicable Diseases Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for preventing and controlling chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases
P
Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness: an international agreement to which over one hundred ministers, heads of agencies and other senior officials adhered and committed their countries and organizations to continue to increase efforts in ownership, harmonization, alignment, mutual accountability and managing aid for development results with a set of monitorable actions and indicators, endorsed on March 2, 2005 at the Second High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness
Polio Eradication: a global public health initiative to eradicate poliovirus transmission.
Pooled Funding: Pooled funding refers to the practice of combining financial resources from multiple donors to support a specific program or cause in public health. This approach offers several advantages:(i) Increased Efficiency: By pooling resources, donors can avoid administrative duplication and ensure funds are used more effectively ; (ii) Greater Impact: Combining resources allows for larger-scale projects and programs with a potentially broader impact ; (iii) Alignment with Priorities: Pooled funding can be directed towards programs aligned with a country's National Development Plan (NDP) health priorities ; (iv) Improved Coordination: Donors working together can better coordinate their efforts and avoid fragmentation.Here are some examples of how pooled funding is used in public health:*Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: This is a major example of pooled funding, supporting programs in low- and middle-income countries.*Thematic Funds: Donors may pool resources for specific health issues like neglected diseases or maternal health.*Country-based Pooled Funds: These combine resources from various donors to support a national health program.Overall, pooled funding is a valuable strategy for optimizing donor resources and achieving better health outcomes. http://mptf.undp.org/page/un-pooled-funding-key-concepts-and-terms
Primary Health Care: a health reform movement launched at Alma Ata in 1978 to move towards health for all. (i) 1978: Essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound, and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self‐reliance and self‐determination. It forms an integral part of both the country’s health system, of which it is the central function and the main focus and of the overall social and economic development of the community. (ii) 1980s The set of activities outlined in the Declaration of Alma‐Ata: education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition; an adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care, including family planning; immunization against the major infectious diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs. (iii) 1990s: a level of care, that is the point of entry to the health services system (see: primary care). (iv) 2008: a set of policy orientations and reforms needed to move towards health for all: moving towards universal coverage; shifting service delivery to people‐centred primary care; ensuring health in all policies; promoting inclusive leadership and governance. (See Primary Health Care reforms)
Primary Health Care Based Health System: health system organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal while maximizing the equity and solidarity. A PHC‐based health system is composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that guarantee universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity‐enhancing. It provides comprehensive, integrated and appropriate care over time, emphasizes prevention, promotion, and first contact primary care as well as intersectoral actions to address other determinants of health and equity. Primary Health Care reforms: policy reforms needed to move towards health for all: moving towards universal coverage in order to contribute to health equity, social justice and the end of exclusion; shifting service delivery to people‐centred primary care, to make health services more socially relevant and responsive to the changing world, while producing better outcomes; ensuring health in all policies to secure healthier communities by integrating public health actions with primary care and by pursuing healthy public policies across sectors; promoting inclusive leadership and governance, to replace disproportionate reliance on command and control or on laissez‐faire disengagement of the state by participatory, negotiation based leadership
Primary Health Care values: the values that underpin primary health care, including solidarity, social justice, the right to better health for all, and participation.
Q
Quality Assurance of Norms and Standards (QNS): the process of ensuring that health services meet established quality standards. https://www.who.int/our-work/science-division/quality-assurance-norms-and-standards
R
Reproductive Health Plan: a national plan outlining strategies for improving access to reproductive healthcare services.
Right to equality and non-discrimination: health facilities, goods and services must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, in law and fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds. This includes any discrimination in access to health care and underlying determinants of health, as well as to means and entitlements for their procurement, on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, physical or mental disability, health status (including HIV/AIDS), sexual orientation and civil, political, social or other status, which has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the equal enjoyment or exercise of the right to health.
Right to health: The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition according to the WHO Constitution. The right to health is defined as the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The necessary steps to achieve the right to health include (a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth rate and infant mortality and the healthy development of the child; (b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; (c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; (d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
S
Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy: a national plan outlining strategies for improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/WHO-RHR-07.7
Stewardship: "the very essence of good government … the careful and responsible management of the well‐being of the population". Includes: health policy formulation (defining the vision and direction of health system), regulation (setting fair rules of the game with a level playing field) and intelligence (assessing performance and sharing information). See: governance
Strategy: a series of broad lines of action intended to achieve a set of goals and targets set out within a policy or programme.
SWAP (Sector Wide Approach to Health): a financing and planning approach where development partners align their support with a country's health sector priorities outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP). https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/28/8/884/584233
T
Tuberculosis Plan: A national strategic plan for TB is a key document that guides the national TB response through interventions within and beyond the health sector. It outlines the overall goal(s), strategies and interventions prioritized by national health authorities and stakeholders, and how these are coordinated across various sectors in line with the latest WHO guidelines and tools. The NSP translates global, regional and national commitments into national and subnational targets and activities to be implemented to achieve these targets and provides the basis for mobilization of domestic and external resources for the TB response.
U
Undocumented migrant: a non-national who enters or stays in a country without the appropriate documentation.
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Roadmap: a national plan outlining the steps towards achieving UHC, ensuring everyone has access to needed health services.
V
Vision: an inspirational statement that articulates main prioritized goals as well as values for what government wants to achieve for its population, both in public health and healthcare system terms.
W
WHO Country Cooperation Strategy: A plan outlining WHO's collaboration with a specific country on health priorities. https://www.emro.who.int/about-who/country-cooperation-strategy/