loading...
WHAT WE DO
Access to Health Services for All (MDG 4, 5 and 6)
Overall, people in China are living longer and healthier lives. Yet inequalities in access to quality health services and disparities in health outcomes remain. With spiralling costs, large numbers of people simply cannot afford health care when they need it. Furthermore, public health services provide low coverage because of under- funding. The links between public health, poverty and the current patterns of China's development show a clear need for coordinated and urgent action.
Emerging public health and safety preventing such as strengthening chronic and infectious disease surveillance systems, reducing intentional and unintentional injuries, preventing diseases related to tobacco and obesity, and improving food safety, are priorities the UN Country Team will focus on in the coming years together with important infectious diseases such as SARS, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and avian influenza.
Based on a joint Health Situation Assessment of China carried out by the UN agencies in partnership with the Ministry of Health and completed in July 2005, the UN Country Team's main priority in the area of public health is making high quality basic health services accessible and affordable for everyone. In practice, this means supporting health-financing reform to ensure greater equity and a more cost-effective and efficient health system. It will also involve advocacy towards better allocation of government resources to the health sector and support to improve the design and coverage of current basic social protection schemes at the local level. Assisting China's efforts to reform the health delivery system reform is also calling for collaboration in the development of strategies for human resources in health, ensuring patient's safety and quality of care.
Targeting areas with the greatest need, UN agencies are supporting the review or improvement of policies for providing essential health, reproductive health, nutrition, water and sanitation services, building capacity in information, education and communications strategies to help people take better care of their own health, and promoting an enabling environment for quality and affordable health commodities such as iodized salt, fortified flour and essential drugs.
Within this framework, the UN is assisting China's national maternal and child mortality reduction through supporting maternal and child health services. It is also providing support for improving the availability of quality, client-centered reproductive health and family planning services to promote the reproductive health and rights of the people of China. At the management level, the UN is working with the Government to find creative solutions to address major challenges in the area of funding, cost control, regulation, safety and coordination.
The UN's work in China in this area is coordinated by its Theme Group on Health.
Emerging public health and safety preventing such as strengthening chronic and infectious disease surveillance systems, reducing intentional and unintentional injuries, preventing diseases related to tobacco and obesity, and improving food safety, are priorities the UN Country Team will focus on in the coming years together with important infectious diseases such as SARS, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and avian influenza.
Based on a joint Health Situation Assessment of China carried out by the UN agencies in partnership with the Ministry of Health and completed in July 2005, the UN Country Team's main priority in the area of public health is making high quality basic health services accessible and affordable for everyone. In practice, this means supporting health-financing reform to ensure greater equity and a more cost-effective and efficient health system. It will also involve advocacy towards better allocation of government resources to the health sector and support to improve the design and coverage of current basic social protection schemes at the local level. Assisting China's efforts to reform the health delivery system reform is also calling for collaboration in the development of strategies for human resources in health, ensuring patient's safety and quality of care.
Targeting areas with the greatest need, UN agencies are supporting the review or improvement of policies for providing essential health, reproductive health, nutrition, water and sanitation services, building capacity in information, education and communications strategies to help people take better care of their own health, and promoting an enabling environment for quality and affordable health commodities such as iodized salt, fortified flour and essential drugs.
Within this framework, the UN is assisting China's national maternal and child mortality reduction through supporting maternal and child health services. It is also providing support for improving the availability of quality, client-centered reproductive health and family planning services to promote the reproductive health and rights of the people of China. At the management level, the UN is working with the Government to find creative solutions to address major challenges in the area of funding, cost control, regulation, safety and coordination.
The UN's work in China in this area is coordinated by its Theme Group on Health.