Health systems governance

Leadership and governance involves ensuring strategic policy frameworks exist and are combined with effective oversight, coalition-building, regulation, attention to system-design and accountability. Three main categories of stakeholders who interact with each other determine the health system and its governance:  

• the State (government organizations and agencies at central and sub-national level);
• the health service providers (different public and private for and not for profit clinical, para-medical and non-clinical health services providers; unions and other professional associations; networks of care or of services);
• the citizen (population representatives, patients’ associations, CSOs/NGOs, citizens associations protecting the poor, etc.) who become service users when they interact with health service providers.

In the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, WHO works to support countries to exercise effective health systems governance, focused on strengthening  the capacity of governments to develop and implement strategies towards achieving UHC by 2030.