The MDG To SDG Transition: Implications For Health Care Systems

In 2016, the world will move from a global commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to a focus on the much more ambitious and wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whereas the health-related MDGs focused narrowly on particular diseases or conditions for select vulnerable groups, the SDGs are broader, calling (in SDG 3) for the global community to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” As we take on this challenge, it is useful to reflect on what we have learned and what we will need to do differently to make substantial progress towards the SDGs. For the past four decades, donors have mainly funded disease-specific programs and global discourse has focused on the need for better primary care. In combination, these have contributed to remarkable progress in meeting many of the MDG health targets, especially those relating to child mortality, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Targeted programs and a primary care focus have been less successful, however, in achieving some of the other MDGs — most notably in the areas of maternal and neonatal mortality. While many papers and conferences have been devoted to the topic of “health systems strengthening,” funding priorities and programmatic approaches have remained narrowly targeted on diseases, or on a single platform of delivery: primary care. Role Of Hospitals And Integrated Primary Care Public health, health promotion, prevention, and controlling risk factors through a broa...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Equity and Disparities Global Health Hospitals Insurance and Coverage Organization and Delivery Population Health Public Health Quality HIV/AIDS Millennium Development Goals NCDs SDGs sustainable development goals Source Type: blogs