Health Ministers have underscored the urgent need for country-owned and implemented strategies and a laser-sharp focus on health data at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
With many countries facing abrupt cuts in external health funding, ministers and global health leaders agreed that the crisis presents not only a challenge but also an opportunity to radically reshape how health systems are financed and managed with a central focus on country ownership and data-driven decision-making.
“This is a time for countries to reduce their reliance on external health information systems and external financing; build out their domestic data infrastructure, from vital statistics to downstream impact and return-on-investment; and establish resilient systems designed to withstand shocks, so that access to essential services is protected.” The Ministers said.
The leaders who were speaking at a ministerial dialogue co-hosted by WHO and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly, the ministers noted that a time has come for countries to reduce their reliance on external health information systems and external financing.
Professor Fisseha called on countries, “to use this moment to rethink data and financing in a way that best meets your needs and the needs of your people. For countries to truly lead and for funders and development partners to start to learn how to follow. Data and financing are a natural place to start because that is where ministers are telling us to start.”
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also weighed in with a call to action, emphasizing that domestic financing and real-time data systems are “not just technical matters they are political choices.”
“From expanding domestic financing to pioneering real-time data systems, many of you are advancing solutions that are scalable, sustainable and rooted in equity. Data and sustainable financing are not just technical matters. They are political choices. They shape who is reached, how quickly, and with what quality of care. And they determine whether we progress or fall behind.” He noted.
Ministers from Barbados, Central African Republic, Egypt, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and representatives from the African Union and the World Bank, among others, shared experiences and advice on concrete actions to strengthen data systems, health financing and planning, urging intensified collaboration in the future.
They also spoke of the need to leverage the digital transformation and thereby increase transparency and accountability.
Also discussed: strategies to improve domestic financing capacity while maximizing impact include: strengthening tax administration; exploring revenue sources such as taxes on such items as food, alcohol and tobacco; setting up population-wide mandatory health coverage schemes, coupled with subsidies for low-income households and vulnerable population groups; promoting strategic purchasing of health supplies; prioritizing health in public spending; and integrating externally-funded programmes into domestic financing systems and priorities.
As countries confront the reality of declining external aid, the tone from Geneva is clear: the future of resilient, equitable health systems must be built from within powered by local data, domestic investment, and shared political will.
Later this week the Assembly will take up the proposed WHA Health Financing Resolution.
