Supporting countries in developing and implementing health policies

WHO supports countries in developing and implementing health policies, strategies and plans. A coherent health policy can improve the use of resources for health and enable long-term, sustainable improvements by:

• moving towards universal health coverage;
• going beyond the boundaries of health systems to address the social determinants of health and interactions among the health sector and other sectors in society; and
• strengthening health security.

What are health policies?

Policies are governing instruments that help define and achieve goals. Policies can be made at different levels, from national to local. Policies made in the public sector affect people, institutions, organizations, services and funding arrangements. In the broad sense, they include strategies and plans that contain a country’s vision, policy directions and strategies for ensuring the health of its population.

Sound and effective policies, strategies and plans are developed through highly complex and dynamic processes involving the whole of government and the whole of society, taking into account specific political, historical and socioeconomic contexts. The development of health policies should be value-based and grounded in evidence.

What is WHO’s work in the development and implementation of policies?

WHO has a long track record of supporting countries in developing health policies, strategies and plans through country-level technical cooperation, facilitation of national policy dialogues and intercountry exchanges, and the development of normative guidance and policy frameworks.

Key areas of work include:

• providing and mobilizing technical support in the development and implementation of national health policies, strategies and plans;
• enabling optimal engagement of all relevant partners in the development and implementation of health policies, strategies and plans;
• building capacity for the development of policies that can be implemented and monitored;
• keeping track of key issues and trends and producing analyses, reports, tools and scientific publications pertaining to health and development policies, strategies and plans; and
• supporting the organization and facilitation of policy dialogues with a specific focus on health policy development and intersectoral governance for health.