Health Leadership and Governance - WHO

• Module 7 focuses on Health Leadership and Governance.

Leadership and Governance

• It's a crucial component of a health system, according to the WHO.
• It is one of six essential building blocks for a health system.
• The other five include: Health Human Resource, Access to Medicine and Technology, Health Service Delivery, Health Information, and Health Financing.
• All six building blocks must be established, strengthened, and monitored for a health system to produce better health outcomes, especially for vulnerable groups.
• Leadership and governance, also known as stewardship, stands out as the most complex yet critical building block.
• It concerns the government's role in health and its connection with other entities influencing health.
• It involves guiding the entire health system, both public and private, to protect the public interest.
• It requires both political and technical action, balancing competing demands for limited resources amid changing circumstances like rising expectations and decentralization.
• Leadership and Governance drives the rest of the building blocks and is essential for their effectiveness.

Philippine Health Care System

• It is devolved, also known as decentralized.
• It has at least 4 administrative divisions, these are referred to as Local Government Units (LGU).
• The President of the Republic of the Philippines oversees these administrative regions.
• Administrative regions include Province, City, Municipality, and Barangay.
• A special administrative division is the Autonomous Regions, currently consisting of two regions: Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
• The Philippine RA of 7160, known as the Local Government Code of 1991, mandates the establishment of a local health board in every province, city, or municipality.

Provincial Health Board

• Its members include:
  • The Governor as Chairman
  • The provincial health officer as vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council)
  • A representative from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
  • A representative of the DOH in the province

City Health Board

• Its members include:
  • City mayor as chairman
  • City health officer as vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council)
  • Representative from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
  • Representative of the DOH in the city

Municipal Health Board

• Its members include:
  • Municipal mayor as chairman
  • Municipal health officer as vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council)
  • Representative from the private sector or NGO involved in health services
  • Representative of the DOH in the municipality

Functions of the local health board include:

• Proposing annual budgetary allocations, in accordance with DOH standards, for health facilities and services to the council concerned, for the municipality, city, or province.
• Serving as an advisory committee to the council on health matters, including the necessity for local appropriations for public health purposes.
• Consistent with DOH standards create committees which shall advise local health agencies on matters such as, but not limited to, personnel selection and promotion, bids and awards, grievance and complaints, personnel discipline, budget review, operations review and similar functions.

Focus on Health Leadership and Governance, a crucial part of a health system according to the WHO. It is one of six essential building blocks for a health system. It concerns the government's role in health and its connection with other entities influencing health.