ReliefWeb

Introduction

Good health and wellbeing matter to everyone. We all want to live healthy lives and stay physically and mentally strong. Achieving this means that we can use quality health services whenever we need them, and feel confident, safe, and respected when we use them. Good health is valuable in its own right and brings social and economic benefits. Healthy children can go to school and be in a position to learn, healthy adults can take on meaningful employment and healthy communities can better cope with shocks and crises. Good health and nutrition are the bedrock of resilient, inclusive, secure, stable, and prosperous societies.1,2 This is why health forms a central part of the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with SDG target 3.8 being to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all.3

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, investing in global health is in all our interests.
The world was ill-prepared for the pandemic and its impact on the global economy has been immense.4 It continues to undo years of development. Key economic, human, and social development indicators have stalled and are even reversing as systems have come under strain. It has shown how easily health, social, economic, and political systems can be disrupted. It has also shown how interconnected people, animals and the planet are and highlighted the need for One Health approaches. Progress towards the SDGs was already off-track before the pandemic. Their attainment is now an even bigger challenge.5 Building health resilience through stronger health systems must move to the forefront of our collective efforts as we help countries to achieve UHC, strengthen their pandemic preparedness and response capabilities, end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children and build healthier, more prosperous, and more resilient populations.

The UK is a longstanding advocate for, and investor in, global health. Investing in health systems remains a key priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other government departments (OGDs) working on global health. The results of this investment are twofold. A health systems strengthening (HSS) approach not only ensures countries have the capability to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to epidemic and pandemic disease outbreaks and health threats like antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the health impacts of climate change, but also deliver UHC and improve health outcomes for all. Strong, resilient and inclusive health systems are fundamental to delivering the Prime Minister’s Five Point Plan for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, as highlighted in the 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (IR).6,7 Strong health systems are essential to the delivery of the G7 Carbis Bay Health Declaration and this government’s manifesto commitments to end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children (EPD) and lead the world in tackling Ebola and malaria.8,9

This paper is not intended to go into detail on all aspects of the UK’s global health portfolio and it should be read alongside other government strategies, such as the UK’s forthcoming International Development Strategy, the FCDO’s Ending the Preventable Deaths of Mothers, Babies and Children Approach Paper and the Disability Inclusion Strategy. Instead, this paper seeks to outline how the FCDO, in partnership with national governments, will take forward our approach to HSS with greater intention and focus.

Part 1 outlines the importance of strong health systems. It highlights the critical interdependencies between HSS, UHC and global health security (GHS) and why strong and inclusive health systems are critical to realising the international community’s collective global health goals and the SDGs.

Part 2 goes on to set out our approach to HSS. It outlines the FCDO’s principles by which we will deliver all our HSS work and highlights particular areas where there is room for us to do more and do better.

Part 3 outlines how the FCDO will tackle these challenges through mobilising and coordinating a cross-UK Government approach, strengthened by the broader offer of the new FCDO. It highlights our commitment to work with international, multilateral, national and civil society partners, as well as outlining our approaches to different country and regional contexts to progress, for instance, the systems work that supports cross-border issues such as health security. Before drawing its conclusions, the paper also explains how we will use our health and research investments to support countries to build and sustain more resilient health systems.