Health Systems Resilience
Why is resilience important?
Public health shocks, such as Ebola Virus Disease and COVID-19, and everyday stressors highlight the vulnerability of health systems across the world, and the need for an integrated approach to health system strengthening bringing together health security, disease-specific
and life course-specific programmes to make progress towards Universal Health Coverage and health security goals.
Developing resilient health systems ensures countries can effectively prevent, prepare for, detect, adapt to, respond to and recover from public health threats while ensuring the maintenance of quality essential and routine health services in all contexts, including in fragile, conflict and violence settings.
The Health Systems Resilience and Essential Public Health Functions Team's cross-cutting functions are achieved through a convergence of health system strengthening and health emergency management in the assimilation and development of conceptual and operational resources, and the provision of support to countries.
Publications
The aim of this framework is to guide countries in integrating and prioritizing health across humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts. It will...
Health system recovery from disruptive events presents a window of opportunity for substantial improvements, applying lessons from ongoing or past experiences...
Building health system resilience to public health challenges: guidance for implementation in countries
Health system resilience is not an inevitable byproduct of any investment in health but must be intentionally programmed and developed with necessary input,...
National workforce capacity for essential public health functions: Operational handbook for country-led...
Achieving and sustaining national progress towards universal health coverage, health security and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals necessitates...
Defining essential public health functions and services to strengthen national workforce capacity
The purpose of this document is to support countries in contextualizing and implementing action area 1 of the roadmap and action plan to strengthen the...
Health system resilience indicators: an integrated package for measuring and monitoring health system...
The package of health system resilience indicators serves as a dedicated resource to measure and monitor health system resilience in routine operations...
Application of the essential public health functions: an integrated and comprehensive approach to public...
Experience with public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates that weak public health capacities leave populations and health,...
Essential public health functions in Ireland
This report represents a focused review of the essential public health functions (EPHFs) in Ireland with respect to policy and planning, infrastructure,...
Regional landscape of national public health institutions in Africa and their role, scope and capacity...
This report was developed as part of a World Health Organization and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) collaboration...
Achieving and sustaining progress towards global health goals such as universal health coverage and health security requires a health and care workforce...
Health systems resilience toolkit: a WHO global public health good to support building and strengthening...
This document is a consolidated, fit-for-purpose technical reference package to support countries in strengthening health systems resilience at national...
21st century health challenges: can the essential public health functions make a difference?: discussion...
Countries worldwide are facing complex and diverse health challenges in 21st century, and usually there is one national health system for individual and...
Building health systems resilience for universal health coverage and health security during the COVID-19...
As of the 23rd of June 2021, over 178 million people across the world have been infected by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, causing 3,880,450 deaths....
Health service continuity planning for public health emergencies
In view of the current paucity of guidance on health service continuity planning at facility level; this handbook is developed with the aim of supporting...
Fostering resilience through integrated health system strengthening: a perspective on Liberia and Bangladesh
Public health emergencies continually reinforce the need for an integrated approach to health systems strengthening, underpinned by a public health approach,...
Fostering resilience through integrated health system strengthening: technical meeting report
Public health emergencies continually reinforce the need for an integrated approach to health systems strengthening, underpinned by a public health approach,...
A review of joint external evaluations and national action plans for health security in 13 countries...
Public health emergencies continually reinforce the need for an integrated approach to health systems strengthening, underpinned by a public health approach,...
The identified materials were examined from a health system resilience perspective, using the six health system building blocks outlined in the WHO health...
Since the first WHO list of essential public health functions (EPHFs) was published in 1998, EPHFs have been a recurring method used by WHO regions, Member States...
Recovery toolkit: supporting countries to achieve health service resilience: a library of tools and resources...
The overall goal of this Toolkit is to support countries in the reactivation of essential health services in the aftermath of a public health emergency....
Related publications
Health systems resilience
- A synthesis of concepts of resilience to inform operationalization of health systems resilience in recovery from disruptive public health events including COVID-19
- Concept analysis of health system resilience
- WHO recommendations for resilient health systems
- Liberia health system's journey to long-term recovery and resilience post-Ebola: a case study of an exemplary multi-year collaboration
- COVID-19 preparedness and response plans from 106 countries: a review from a health systems resilience perspective
- Operationalising multisectoral action towards SDG 3.d and building health systems resilience during and beyond COVID-19: findings from an INTOSAI Development Initiative and WHO collaboration
- The global pool of simulation exercise materials in health emergency preparedness and response: a scoping review with a health system perspective
- On the resilience of health systems: A methodological exploration across countries in the WHO African Region
Essential public health functions
- Reviewing essential public health functions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region post COVID-19 pandemic: a foundation for system resilience
- Essential public health functions: the key to resilient health systems
- Building the evidence base for global health policy: the need to strengthen institutional networks, geographical representation and global collaboration
- A novel approach to utilizing the essential public health functions in Ireland’s health system recovery and reform
- Towards applying the essential public health functions for building health systems resilience: a renewed list and key enablers for operationalization
- Public health and emergency workforce: a roadmap for WHO and partner contributions
- Health systems, International Health Regulations, and Essential Public Health Functions
- World Health Assembly Resolution 69.1 Strengthening essential public health functions in support of the achievement of universal health coverage
Health system recovery and health in humanitarian, development and peace nexus
- Special collection issue on “Health Systems Recovery in the Context of COVID-19 and Protracted Conflict”
- Health systems recovery in the context of COVID-19 and protracted conflict
- The humanitarian, development and peace nexus (HDPN) in Africa: the urgent need for a coherent framework for health
- Post-conflict health system recovery efforts in South Sudan
