High Level Meeting on the Regional Strategy on Health Systems Based on the Values of Primary Health Care
Summary
The WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in September 2008 passed a consultation with Member States, a regional strategy for strengthening health systems, based on the guiding principles and core values of primary health care and present this strategy in a high-level meeting in 2010 as well as the Regional Committee in 2010". A draft strategy was prepared based on the outcomes of a series of meetings on primary health care (PHC) renewal held in 2007 and 2008, resolutions from the Executive Board and World Health Assembly of WHO, the World Health Report 2008: Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever, existing WHO strategies and documents, and two expert consultations held in Manila in August 2008 and April 2009. A questionnaire covering all aspects of the draft strategy was prepared by the Health Services Development (HSD) Unit at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and used by the researchers to guide interviews with up to 13 key informants in each country. A Senior Steering Group (SSG) meeting was convened on 23–25 February 2009 to review the inputs of the country consultations and advise on improving the strategy. As a follow-up, a High Level Meeting on the Regional Strategy on Health Systems Based on the Values of Primary Health Care was held from 24 to 25 June 2010 in Manila, Philippines. The meeting was attended by senior health officials from 20 countries in the Region as well as temporary advisers, representatives and observers, and members of the WHO Secretariat.[FULL TEXT]