Health systems, health and wealth: assessing the case for investing in health systems: background document 3
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Date
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Volume Title
Publisher
World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe
Abstract
Description
xi, 64 p.
Health policy-makers have been under enormous pressure in recent years over concerns about financial sustainability and cost-containment. The resources available to any society are finite, but emerging evidence is recasting health systems not as a drain on those resources but as an opportunity to invest in the health of the population and in economic growth. Health systems,health and wealth are inextricably linked in a set of mutually reinforcing and dynamic relationships. This new paradigm offers an opportunity for a fundamental reassessment of the role of health systems in society. Itposes three key questions.• How can we improve health, wealth and societal well-being by investing in health systems?• How can we ensure that health systems are sustained in the future?• How can we monitor, manage and improve performance so that health systems are as effective and efficient as possible?This background document to the WHO Ministerial Conference on Health Systems (Tallinn, Estonia, 25–27 June 2008) explores this evidence. It makes the case for appropriate investment in health systems because they can improve health and impact positively on economies and because they reflect core values that underpin European societies.
Health policy-makers have been under enormous pressure in recent years over concerns about financial sustainability and cost-containment. The resources available to any society are finite, but emerging evidence is recasting health systems not as a drain on those resources but as an opportunity to invest in the health of the population and in economic growth. Health systems,health and wealth are inextricably linked in a set of mutually reinforcing and dynamic relationships. This new paradigm offers an opportunity for a fundamental reassessment of the role of health systems in society. Itposes three key questions.• How can we improve health, wealth and societal well-being by investing in health systems?• How can we ensure that health systems are sustained in the future?• How can we monitor, manage and improve performance so that health systems are as effective and efficient as possible?This background document to the WHO Ministerial Conference on Health Systems (Tallinn, Estonia, 25–27 June 2008) explores this evidence. It makes the case for appropriate investment in health systems because they can improve health and impact positively on economies and because they reflect core values that underpin European societies.