South Asia countries have shared health challenges but diverse contexts. What opportunities exist for regional learning, harmonization, or collaboration to scale community-centered PHC approaches?
Respected speakers and panelists
Conference co-organizers
Partners, colleagues and friends
A very good afternoon to you all.
At the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, my colleagues and I are working towards ‘a region where people have access to quality healthcare, regardless of where they live, and regardless of their income or social status.’
Over the course of this conference, you will see and hear about the many innovations that come to know about the range of innovations which have been made across this region. We have made a lot of progress in a lot of crucial areas, thanks to the efforts of our countries, our partners and WHO.
Nonetheless, we are not on track to achieve UHC and the health-related SDGs.
Our region’s UHC Service Coverage Index improved from 47 in 2010 to 62 in 2021. However, the pace of progress is inadequate to reach the set target of 80 by 2030.
The proportion of people spending more than 10 percent of their household expenditure on health has also worsened, from 13.1% in 2010 to 15% in 2017.
It is no secret that we also face new challenges – economic, epidemiological, demographic, and environmental. These demand new approaches and new ideas. Doing more of the same will not deliver the results we want.
A remarkable transformation is currently taking place across the countries in this region, and I believe worldwide. A transformation from focus on a few select diseases to that of the full human condition, across the life course. This is much needed and overdue.
I would like to reiterate this point. We have moved from focusing on diseases to people. Or, in the words of one of WHO’s founders Dr. Karl Evang, the “human being – the working, creating, hoping and struggling human being.”
I would like to give you some examples of the community-centered PHC approach in our region.
India has operationalized over 165,000 Health and Wellness Centers, for a comprehensive array of services at primary level - including establishing a new cadre of mid-level workers and building their capacity.
Indonesia launched National PHC Integration as first pillar of health system transformation, with ongoing national scale-up.
Maldives piloted the Faafu Atoll PHC Demonstration Site, which is now being expanded across more atolls.
Sri Lanka is undertaking shared care cluster reforms to strengthen PHC orientation of the health system.
Thailand is actively reforming its famed Universal Coverage Scheme from “Treats all Diseases” to “Treatment Anywhere”, for people’s greater convenience and choice. This is currently being scaled up nationally.
Timor Leste developed the Integrated Health Service Policy, and in the process of its operationalization.
Bangladesh's Community Clinic program is an innovative model of primary healthcare, particularly in rural and underserved areas; with ongoing reforms to strengthen PHC-orientation in the country.
Operationalizing these reforms, across the diversity and range of contexts of our 2 billion people, is no simple task.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In our Asian context, our communities – and the social capital that resides within them - is our strength. As is clearly articulated in the WHO & UNICEF PHC Operational Framework, community engagement is the key to successfully realizing our vision of primary health care and health for all.
We cannot achieve ‘health for all’ without community health workers. I am proud that community health workers are an Asian innovation, which developed countries have recently begun to adopt to address epidemiological shifts and social inequities. They are, and must remain, the bridge between their communities and the formal health system.
Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, our region was the first WHO Region to develop a Regional PHC Strategy and establish an associated regional knowledge management platform – the SEAR PHC Forum. This Forum of ours has developed some important examples like Positive Practice Case Stories.
[Aside: For those of you that would like to learn from our experiences, please do contact my office and we will share this publication with you.]
A final thought I’d like to share with you is the critical role of families in providing care, particularly in managing chronic conditions. I would like to specifically highlight Noora Health, who are present at this conference, for their work with government health facilities in training families to care for their own.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our challenges are real, but we have important learnings to share, and experiences we can all learn from. Let us collaborate and exchange insights, because we are all always stronger together than alone.
At this particular moment in human history, when the global public health industry faces extreme pressures, it is more important than ever that we choose cooperation over conflict.
Across the planet, across all our languages and cultures, across all our faiths, we all share one common desire – the good health and wellbeing of those that we love.
As the World Health Organization, we will always work to promote and protect the health and wellbeing of you, and of everyone you love.
Thank you.