Improving health system efficiency

Overview

The World health report (WHR) 2010 estimated that about 20-40% of all health sector resources are wasted and highlighted leading sources of inefficiency. As a follow-up, WHO commissioned 10 case studies of specific efforts to improve efficiency through various health system reforms in Asian, African and Latin American countries. The case studies cover a wide range of topics, including reforms on provider payment methods and benefit package design (Burundi, Chile, Mexico); essential drug policy, regulation and implementation (China, El Salvador, South Africa); social health insurance market structure (the Republic of Korea, and Uruguay); human resources (Ethiopia); and aid coordination (the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Preliminary findings of these country case studies were discussed during an expert meeting held in December 2014 in Oxford. Participants in the meeting provided technical comments and recommendations to support the finalization of the case studies and the development of a framework to synthesize and draw lessons from these experiences. The case studies and synthesis report aim to raise awareness about the need to address health system inefficiencies as an integral part of strategies to progress towards universal health coverage, while providing examples of efforts made by different countries.

A team from Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government produced the synthesis report. We are grateful for the financial support provided to this work by the EU-WHO Partnership for Universal Health Coverage and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.