Publication: Improving Health Service Delivery in Developing Countries : From Evidence to Action
Loading...
Published
2009
ISSN
Date
2013-02-13
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Decision makers and the public are in need of information to guide their decisions about how to strengthen health services. This book pulls together available evidence concerning strategies to improve health services delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), using current methods to assemble a knowledge base and analyze the findings. It describes the results of reviews of such strategies, and how such strategies can produce gains for the poor. This type of information is intended to help decision makers in LMICs learn from others and from their own experiences, so that they may develop and implement strategies that will improve health services in their own setting. The book provides some suggestions for what works and how to improve implementation, as the evidence does not hold up for 'blueprint' planning. It finds that there are many ways that can succeed in improving health services. But not nearly enough attention has been paid to demonstrating how to improve services for the poor. Approaches that ask difficult questions, use information intelligently, and involve key stakeholders and institutions are critical to 'learning and doing' practices that underlie successful implementation of health services.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Peters, David H.; El-Saharty, Sameh; Siadat, Banafsheh; Janovsky, Katja; Vujicic, Marko. 2009. Improving Health Service Delivery in Developing Countries : From Evidence to Action. Directions in Development;Human Development;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12334 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Democratic Republic of Congo Urbanization Review(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018)The Democratic Republic of Congo has the third largest urban population in sub-Saharan Africa (estimated at 43% in 2016) after South Africa and Nigeria. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.1% per year, which corresponds to an additional 1 million residents moving to cities every year. If this trend continues, the urban population could double in just 15 years. Thus, with a population of 12 million and a growth rate of 5.1% per year, Kinshasa is poised to become the most populous city in Africa by 2030. Such strong urban growth comes with two main challenges – the need to make cities livable and inclusive by meeting the high demand for social services, infrastructure, education, health, and other basic services; and the need to make cities more productive by addressing the lack of concentrated economic activity. The Urbanization Review of the Democratic Republic of Congo argues that the country is urbanizing at different rates and identifies five regions (East, South, Central, West and Congo Basin) that present specific challenges and opportunities. The Urbanization Review proposes policy options based on three sets of instruments, known as the three 'I's – Institutions, Infrastructures and Interventions – to help each region respond to its specific needs while reaping the benefits of economic agglomeration The Democratic Republic of the Congo is at a crossroads. The recent decline in commodity prices could constitute an opportunity for the country to diversify its economy and invest in the manufacturing sector. Now is an opportune time for Congolese decision-makers to invest in cities that can lead the country's structural transformation and facilitate greater integration with African and global markets. Such action would position the country well on the path to emergence.Publication Strengthening Competitiveness In Bangladesh—Thematic Assessment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-07-15)This is volume 2 of a three-volume publication on Bangladesh’s trade prospects. Bangladesh’s ambition is to build on its very solid growth and poverty reduction achievements, and accelerate growth to become a middle income country by 2021, and share prosperity more widely amongst its citizens. This includes one of its greatest development challenges: to provide gainful employment to the over 2 million people that will join the labor force each year over the next decade. Moreover, only 54.1 million of its 94 million working age people are employed. Bangladesh needs to use its labor endowment even more intensively to increase growth and, in turn, to absorb the incoming labor. The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study identifies the following actions centered around four pillars to sustain and accelerate export growth: (1) breaking into new markets through a) better trade logistics to reduce delivery lags ; as world markets become more competitive and newer products demand shorter lead times, to generate new sources of competitiveness and thereby enable market diversification; and b) better exploitation of regional trading opportunities in nearby growing and dynamic markets, especially East and South Asia; (2) breaking into new products through a) more neutral and rational trade policy and taxation and bonded warehouse schemes; b) concerted efforts to spur domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment, to contribute to export promotion and diversification, including by easing the energy and land constraints; and c) strategic development and promotion of services trade; (3) improving worker and consumer welfare by a) improving skills and literacy; b) implementing labor and work safety guidelines; and c) making safety nets more effective in dealing with trade shocks; and (4) building a supportive environment, including a) sustaining sound macroeconomic fundamentals; and b) strengthening the institutional capacity for strategic policy making aimed at the objective of international competitiveness to help bring focus and coherence to the government’s reform efforts. This second volume provides in-depth analysis across seven cross-cutting themes that underpin most of the findings of pillars 1 and 2 above.Publication At a Crossroads(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-05-02)Higher education (HE) has expanded dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) since 2000. While access became more equitable, quality concerns remain. This volume studies the expansion, as well as HE quality, variety and equity in LAC. It investigates the expansion’s demand and supply drivers, and outlines policy implications.Publication An Investment Framework for Nutrition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-04-12)The report estimates the costs, impacts and financing scenarios to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition targets for stunting, anemia in women, exclusive breastfeeding and the scaling up of the treatment of severe wasting among young children. To reach these four targets, the world needs $70 billion over 10 years to invest in high-impact nutrition-specific interventions. This investment would have enormous benefits: 65 million cases of stunting and 265 million cases of anemia in women would be prevented in 2025 as compared with the 2015 baseline. In addition, at least 91 million more children would be treated for severe wasting and 105 million additional babies would be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life over 10 years. Altogether, achieving these targets would avert at least 3.7 million child deaths. Every dollar invested in this package of interventions would yield between $4 and $35 in economic returns, making investing in early nutrition one of the best value-for-money development actions. Although some of the targets—especially those for reducing stunting in children and anemia in women—are ambitious and will require concerted efforts in financing, scale-up, and sustained commitment, recent experience from several countries suggests that meeting these targets is feasible. These investments in the critical 1000 day window of early childhood are inalienable and portable and will pay lifelong dividends – not only for children directly affected but also for us all in the form of more robust societies – that will drive future economies.Publication Leveraging the Potential of Argentine Cities(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-10-18)Argentina’s path to economic prosperity is through efficient, sustainable and economically thriving cities. Not only are cities a spatial concentration of people, but also they generate agglomeration economies by concentrating ideas, talent, and knowledge. Argentina is one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America, with 90 percent of Argentine people currently living in cities. Argentina’s cities are geographically and economically diverse, and its largest urban area – Metropolitan Buenos Aires – is one of Latin America’s urban giants. Argentine cities need to address three main challenges to leverage their economic potential. Argentina’s current patterns of urban development are characterized by (a) high primacy and unbalanced regional development, (b) limited global economic footprint of urban economies, with employment concentrated in nontradable and resource intensive sectors, and (c) unplanned low-density urban expansion. Argentine cities thus face the challenges of moving toward a more balanced regional development, transitioning from local to global cities, and from urban sprawl to articulated densities to take full advantage of the benefits of agglomeration economies. To address these challenges, Argentina needs the leadership of the federal government; the coordinating power of provinces; and the capacity of empowered, financially sound municipalities. Argentine cities also need system-wide policy reforms in areas such as territorial planning, municipal finance, housing, urban transport, and local economic development. Leveraging the Potential of Argentine Cities: A Framework for Policy Action aims to deepen our empirical understanding of the interplay between urbanization and agglomeration economies in Argentina by asking the following: (a) What are the main trends and spatial patterns of Argentina’s urbanization that underlie agglomeration economies?, (b) Are urban policies leveraging or undermining the benefits of agglomeration economies?, and (c) Are Argentine cities fully reaping the benefits of agglomeration economies to deliver improvements in prosperity and livability? By addressing such questions and exploring their implications for action, this study provides a conceptual framework, empirical data, and strategic directions for leveraging the potential of Argentine cities.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Public Health Surveillance Toolkit : A Guide for Busy Task Managers(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-02)This toolkit draws on the expertise of public health practitioners who have experience with public health surveillance and who have recognized the core role of surveillance in public health. These practitioners have advocated for surveillance programs, supplied innovative ideas, and provided insightful critiques over many years. This toolkit also draws on the experience of Bank staff and technical experts from the PAHO and the CDC who have contributed to Bank missions. The toolkit also makes use of WHO references, primarily those from the WHO s Web site. Part A of this toolkit provides some theoretical concepts, and knowledge about surveillance that has been gained through applying these concepts and the practice of surveillance in developing countries. Part B provides information that will be useful to Task Managers as they prepare loans for strengthening public health surveillance systems. Several World Bank experiences are shared. The focus of part B is on practical aspects of surveillance and on lessons learned.Publication Clearing the Global Health Fog : A Systematic Review of the Evidence on Integration of Health Systems and Targeted Interventions(World Bank, 2009-03-01)A longstanding debate on health systems organization relates to benefits of integrating health programs that emphasize specific interventions into mainstream health systems to increase access and improve health outcomes This paper is organized in five chapters. This introduction is followed by the methodology chapter, which includes a brief section on the conceptual framework used to analyze the studies retrieved and the programs presented within these to map the nature and extent of integration into critical health system functions. The results chapter includes: a summary of the outcomes for each study grouped by the disease area or the clinical problem the intervention seeks to address, including the reported success; for each program, analysis and mapping of the nature and extent of integration into critical health system functions; and an analysis of how contextual factors either created opportunities for introducing or integrating a program or influenced the desirability or feasibility of program integration. The discussion chapter provides an overview of the implication of findings for policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The final chapter draws conclusions.Publication Timor Leste : Health Equity and Financial Protection Project(Washington, DC, 2014-01)This report analyses equity and financial protection in the health sector of Timor-Leste. In particular, it examines inequalities in health outcomes, health behavior and health care utilization; benefit incidence analysis; financial protection; and the progressivity of health care financing. Data are drawn from the 2009/2010 Demographic and Health Survey, the 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 Living Standards and Measurement Surveys as well as 2011-2012 Household Income Expenditure Survey, and the Ministry of Finance. All analyses are conducted using original data and performed using the health modules of the ADePT software.Publication Islamic Republic of Iran - Health Sector Review : Volume 2. Background Sections(Washington, DC, 2008-06)The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has stated its commitment to improving the health and nutritional status of the population as articulated in the Interim Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), which lists as priorities addressing nutritional deficiencies, expanding coverage of basic health services, and improving efficiency of the health system and the quality of service at all levels. This health sector review is consistent with this in that it provides the platform and evidence base for such reform. It is also in-line with part three of the current Fourth Five-Year Plan, which includes health development, human security and social justice priority, the reduction of illness from malnutrition, increasing public health service coverage, and increasing access to quality health services while reducing the financial burden on the families. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive review and diagnostic of the performance of the health sector in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government is quite advanced in the type of analysis it already undertakes on various aspects of the sector (e.g., burden of diseases, national health accounts, and utilization analysis). However, a consolidation of this information and analysis that encompasses several major elements of the health sector has not been done recently. The health sector review, through a synthesis of available data and other information on the health sector attempts to: (i) assess the strengths, challenges, and opportunities facing the current health system; (ii) offer analytic assessments of the health policies and plans; and (iii) provide a framework for developing strategic options as well as short- and medium-term recommendations and action plans to achieve the goals identified in the country's Fourth Five-Year Plan. The review is also intended to provide a platform for discussions on possible areas of collaboration between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the World Bank on the health sector.Publication The Expanded Program on Immunization in Pakistan : Recommendations for Improving Performance(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-04)The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in Pakistan protects against eight vaccine-preventable diseases and immunizes children below 23 months of age. The program was implemented under the Ministry of Health (MOH) until July 11, 2011, when amendment 18 to the constitution devolved health as a subject completely to the provinces. Currently, the EPI is managed and implemented at the provincial level with coordination provided by the Ministry of inter provincial coordination. During the last decade, EPI performance has been stagnant with only 40-60 percent of children receiving the vaccines age-appropriately. Vaccine preventable diseases are still a major cause for the high infant and child mortality rates in Pakistan. Evidence suggests that underachievement of the EPI is due to a combination of factors including; inadequate performance in the areas of service delivery, program management, monitoring and evaluation, logistics control, human resources management and financing, as well as community health-seeking behaviors and other demand-side issues. The recommendations include: (i) increasing focus on supervision, monitoring and evaluation, (ii) considering performance-based incentives, (iii) exploring partnerships with the private sector, (iv) expediting polio eradication initiatives, (v) improving management, (vi) increasing targeted capacity development, (vii) concentrating on the target age group for immunization, (viii) developing socially acceptable strategies, (ix) developing a human resource strategy and implementation plan, and (x) improving planning at the local level.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Shock Waves(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016)Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win” situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.Publication The Economics of Health Professional Education and Careers(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-09-03)The formation of health professionals is critical for the health system to function and achieve its universal health coverage (UHC) goals. This is well recognized by the majority of governments that plan for the training and regulations necessary to ensure quality. But the importance of market forces is often overlooked, resulting in interventions and regulations that often fail to achieve their intended effects. The Economics of Health Professional Education and Careers aims to inform the design of health professionals’ education policies to better manage health labor market forces toward UHC. It documents what is known about the influence of market forces on the health professional formation process. The contexts of the market for health professional training have been subject to important changes in recent decades, in particular: the growing extent of employment of mid-level cadres of health professionals; changes in technology and the associated growth of high-skilled occupations; the increasing interconnectedness of national health systems through globalization, with its implications for international health professional mobility; and the greater complexity of the public-private mix in employment options. There is a need to ensure that market forces align with the intentions of planning and regulation and the UHC goals. This study provides recommendations to support the design of policies that help to achieve these goals.Publication World Development Report 1993(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993)This is the sixteenth in the annual series and examines the interplay between human health, health policy and economic development. Because good health increases the economic productivity of individuals and the economic growth rate of countries, investing in health is one means of accelerating development. More important, good health is a goal in itself. During the past forty years life expectancy in the developing world has risen and child mortality has decreased, sometimes dramatically. But progress is only one side of the picture. The toll from childhood and tropical diseases remains high even as new problems - including AIDS and the diseases of aging populations - appear on the scene. And all countries are struggling with the problems of controlling health expenditures and making health care accessible to the broad population. This report examines the controversial questions surrounding health care and health policy. Its findings are based in large part on innovative research, including estimation of the global burden of disease and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. These assessments can help in setting priorities for health spending. The report advocates a threefold approach to health policy for governments in developing countries and in the formerly socialist countries. First, to foster an economic environment that will enable households to improve their own health. Policies for economic growth that ensure income gains for the poor are essential. So, too, is expanded investment in schooling, particulary for girls. Second, redirect government spending away from specialized care and toward such low-cost and highly effective activities such as immunization, programs to combat micronutrient deficiencies, and control and treatment of infectious diseases. By adopting the packages of public health measures and essential clinical care dsecribed in the report, developing countries could reduce their burden of disease by 25 percent. Third, encourage greater diversity and competition in the provision of health services by decentralizing government services, promoting competitive procurement practices, fostering greater involvement by nongovernmental and other private organizations, and regulating insurance markets. These reforms could translate into longer, healthier, and more productive lives for people around the world, and especially for the more than 1 billion poor. As in previous editions, this report includes the World Development Indicators, which give comprehensive, current data on social and economic development in more than 200 countries and territories.Publication Human Resources for Mental Health Service Delivery in Viet Nam(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-30)"Human Resources for Mental Health Service Delivery in Viet Nam" provides an overview of the country’s current state of and challenges to mental health service delivery. The framework of the report is composed of four interconnected domains: health care, social services, education and mental health literacy, and informal care systems. The organizational structure, significant achievements, critical gaps, and problems in mental health service delivery at the institutional and community levels are highlighted in terms of public demand, availability, accessibility, and quality of service. The report uses new empirical data from surveys, workshops, and group discussions with key stakeholders. It describes the mental health workforce in Viet Nam and analyzes critical issues, including the shortage of professionals (psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists, and others). Given the need to develop all levels of mental health care, the report addresses the uneven distribution of the provision of service between levels of health care institutions and rural and urban regions, competency mismatches, job satisfaction, recruitment, and challenges to the retention of mental health workers. The report also examines the need for mental health education and training at the institutional and structured program levels, as well as the supply constraints to the future development of the mental health workforce. The interdisciplinary team of authors emphasizes the urgent need for Viet Nam to strengthen its human resources for mental health service delivery toward achieving universal health coverage, including all mental disorders. The report’s evidence-based recommendations include multisectoral workforce planning; transformation of education and training; coordination, integration, and retention of the available workforce; improvement of the workforce governance framework; and strengthened mental health financing.Publication Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-03-21)Mental, neurological, and substance use disorders are common, highly disabling, and associated with significant premature mortality. The impact of these disorders on the social and economic well-being of individuals, families, and societies is large, growing, and underestimated. Despite this burden, these disorders have been systematically neglected, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, with pitifully small contributions to scaling up cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Systematically compiling the substantial existing knowledge to address this inequity is the central goal of this volume. This evidence-base can help policy makers in resource-constrained settings as they prioritize programs and interventions to address these disorders.