For the birth of each of her six children, Judith Olivia had to spend six hours and the equivalent of her weekly food budget to ride in a truck along rutted dirt roads to the National Referral Hospital in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara. “If there was a doctor at Belaha clinic, I would go there to have my children,” says Ms Olivia, referring to the clinic that is walking distance from her home. “It’s much easier for me to go to Belaha, but I was not confident that the health workers there could take care of me.”
Still, the trip to Honiara is less arduous for Ms Olivia than for most of the nation’s 620 000 people. Most must travel for days by truck and boat from one of the more than 600 islands to see a doctor or receive medical care. That may all change soon, as the Government works to bring health services closer to the people who need them.
With support from WHO, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has mapped out the country’s path towards universal health coverage. The plan, known as the Role Delineation Policy, defines what services are to be offered at each of the four levels of the health system, from small rural health clinics with basic primary care and area health clinics with doctors who can perform simple surgeries to provincial hospitals and the National Referral Hospital.
“WHO is excited to be part of this new reform agenda that the health ministry has embarked on and which is already proving to be a game changer,” says Dr Sevil Huseynova, WHO Representative in Solomon Islands.
Almost half of all health expenditures in Solomon Islands comes from donors, targeting specific diseases rather than overall strengthening of the country’s health system and services. To further complicate matters, well-intentioned politicians and churches have built hospitals with little or no coordination with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, then sought the ministry’s support to run them. The result has been fragmented services and health gains that do not match the level of investment.
“With all the increased investments in the recent past, there have not been proportionately significant health gains,” says Dr Tenneth Dalipanda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. “That’s what convinced us that something must be done differently.”
Health data are being used to inform the development of a comprehensive implementation plan for the Role Delineation Policy, with all provinces conducting health conferences and budget and planning workshops to integrate the policy into their work.
Dr Greg Jilini, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services who leads the taskforce that drew up the policy, says it is becoming a blueprint for neighbouring countries. WHO is also helping other countries and regions learn from the reforms in Solomon Islands. A website launched last year on integrated people-centred care provides resources and real-life examples.
Hopefully, Ms Olivia will not have to travel so far the next time she needs care.
Still, the trip to Honiara is less arduous for Ms Olivia than for most of the nation’s 620 000 people. Most must travel for days by truck and boat from one of the more than 600 islands to see a doctor or receive medical care. That may all change soon, as the Government works to bring health services closer to the people who need them.
With support from WHO, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has mapped out the country’s path towards universal health coverage. The plan, known as the Role Delineation Policy, defines what services are to be offered at each of the four levels of the health system, from small rural health clinics with basic primary care and area health clinics with doctors who can perform simple surgeries to provincial hospitals and the National Referral Hospital.
“WHO is excited to be part of this new reform agenda that the health ministry has embarked on and which is already proving to be a game changer,” says Dr Sevil Huseynova, WHO Representative in Solomon Islands.
Almost half of all health expenditures in Solomon Islands comes from donors, targeting specific diseases rather than overall strengthening of the country’s health system and services. To further complicate matters, well-intentioned politicians and churches have built hospitals with little or no coordination with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, then sought the ministry’s support to run them. The result has been fragmented services and health gains that do not match the level of investment.
“With all the increased investments in the recent past, there have not been proportionately significant health gains,” says Dr Tenneth Dalipanda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. “That’s what convinced us that something must be done differently.”
Health data are being used to inform the development of a comprehensive implementation plan for the Role Delineation Policy, with all provinces conducting health conferences and budget and planning workshops to integrate the policy into their work.
Dr Greg Jilini, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services who leads the taskforce that drew up the policy, says it is becoming a blueprint for neighbouring countries. WHO is also helping other countries and regions learn from the reforms in Solomon Islands. A website launched last year on integrated people-centred care provides resources and real-life examples.
Hopefully, Ms Olivia will not have to travel so far the next time she needs care.