National quality policy and strategy: WHO meeting report, Geneva, 14–16 June 2017

Overview

This report summarizes the NQPS Learning Laboratory meeting that took place on 14-16 June 2017 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Quality leads from Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico and Sudan, along with WHO regional office representatives from the African, Eastern Mediterranean, European and American regions, as well as a WHO Country Office representative from the South-East Asian Region were all essential in the process of knowledge sharing, co-development of products, and content that is relevant to country efforts, which this meeting was designed to facilitate.

Representation from WHO technical colleagues provided technical injections on a number of specific topics, including integrated people-centred health services, health workforce, maternal, newborn and child health, quality of care measurement, health governance and finance, community engagement, patient safety, infection prevention and control, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health security planning and HIV. 

This meeting served as a useful platform to convene key national-level quality champions, to jointly develop a path to achieve further progress in NQPS. As requests for technical cooperation continue to emerge from Member States, a clear process is required to respond effectively to country demands. This meeting provided an opportunity to pause together with countries that have requested support in NQPS and craft consensus on the needs moving forward. As part of the SDG 2030 Agenda and beyond, prioritizing quality in national health policy and strategy development will be critical in the global dialogue on how to stimulate health systems strengthening. The time is therefore ripe for this type of concrete work.

Meeting objectives