Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in many health systems worldwide with profound implications for health and society. The public health challenges experienced during the pandemic have highlighted the importance of resilient health systems, that can adapt and transform to meet the populat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-03-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/3/e013782.full |
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| author | Yu Zhang Osman Dar Sohel Saikat Olaa Mohamed-Ahmed Neil Squires Tazeem Bhatia Awad Mataria Hala Aboutaleb Samia Latif Hannah L Watson Rachel Handley Emily Humphreys Fethiye Gulin Gedik Joia De Sa |
| author_facet | Yu Zhang Osman Dar Sohel Saikat Olaa Mohamed-Ahmed Neil Squires Tazeem Bhatia Awad Mataria Hala Aboutaleb Samia Latif Hannah L Watson Rachel Handley Emily Humphreys Fethiye Gulin Gedik Joia De Sa |
| author_sort | Yu Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in many health systems worldwide with profound implications for health and society. The public health challenges experienced during the pandemic have highlighted the importance of resilient health systems, that can adapt and transform to meet the population’s evolving health needs. Essential public health functions (EPHFs) offer a holistic, integrated and sustainable approach to public health by contributing to achieving several health priorities and goals. In recent years, there has been a focused effort to conceptualise and define the EPHFs. In this paper, we describe the collaborative approach undertaken by the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and UK Health Security Agency and present the findings and results of the revised EPHFs, in view of lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and the current priorities for countries across the EMR. This included conducting a desktop review, a gap and bottleneck analysis and stakeholder consultation to arrive at the revised EPHF model including four enablers and nine core functions, including a new function: public health services. The EPHFs will offer countries a complementary and synergistic approach to strengthen health systems and public health capacities and contribute to the region’s ability to effectively respond to future health challenges and emergencies. By focusing on the EPHFs, countries can work towards ensuring health security as an integral goal for the health system besides universal health coverage, thus strengthening and building more resilient and equitable health systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2d19beadc0ed42229edd64b377c94d5d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-2d19beadc0ed42229edd64b377c94d5d2024-12-28T09:25:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082024-03-019310.1136/bmjgh-2023-013782Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilienceYu Zhang0Osman Dar1Sohel Saikat2Olaa Mohamed-Ahmed3Neil Squires4Tazeem Bhatia5Awad Mataria6Hala Aboutaleb7Samia Latif8Hannah L Watson9Rachel Handley10Emily Humphreys11Fethiye Gulin Gedik12Joia De Sa131 State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis andTherapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, GuangZhou, China1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK5 World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK6 Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care, London, UKUniversal Health Coverage/Health Systems, World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt3 Universal Health Coverage/Health Systems, World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK3 Universal Health Coverage/Health Systems, World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt1 Global Operations, UK Health Security Agency, London, UKThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in many health systems worldwide with profound implications for health and society. The public health challenges experienced during the pandemic have highlighted the importance of resilient health systems, that can adapt and transform to meet the population’s evolving health needs. Essential public health functions (EPHFs) offer a holistic, integrated and sustainable approach to public health by contributing to achieving several health priorities and goals. In recent years, there has been a focused effort to conceptualise and define the EPHFs. In this paper, we describe the collaborative approach undertaken by the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and UK Health Security Agency and present the findings and results of the revised EPHFs, in view of lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and the current priorities for countries across the EMR. This included conducting a desktop review, a gap and bottleneck analysis and stakeholder consultation to arrive at the revised EPHF model including four enablers and nine core functions, including a new function: public health services. The EPHFs will offer countries a complementary and synergistic approach to strengthen health systems and public health capacities and contribute to the region’s ability to effectively respond to future health challenges and emergencies. By focusing on the EPHFs, countries can work towards ensuring health security as an integral goal for the health system besides universal health coverage, thus strengthening and building more resilient and equitable health systems.https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/3/e013782.full |
| spellingShingle | Yu Zhang Osman Dar Sohel Saikat Olaa Mohamed-Ahmed Neil Squires Tazeem Bhatia Awad Mataria Hala Aboutaleb Samia Latif Hannah L Watson Rachel Handley Emily Humphreys Fethiye Gulin Gedik Joia De Sa Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience BMJ Global Health |
| title | Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience |
| title_full | Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience |
| title_fullStr | Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience |
| title_short | Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience |
| title_sort | reviewing essential public health functions in the eastern mediterranean region post covid 19 pandemic a foundation for system resilience |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/3/e013782.full |
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