Exploring how strong health systems contribute to health security

Despite great progress in boosting access to healthcare and scaling up universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries, people around the world are still vulnerable to health emergencies. Continuing disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and conflicts can have significant health, social, and economic impacts. There are significant gaps in ensuring all-hazards health emergency preparedness and operational readiness capacities in countries around the world, which during an emergency can strain already stretched systems.


WHO sees reducing individual and collective vulnerabilities to risks, including the spread of disease across geographical borders, as critical to achieving health security. However, to ensure sustainable delivery of healthcare, countries need to take into account the full scope of potential emergencies, including additional number of people seeking shelter from disaster areas or interrupted supply of needed medication and equipment.


Trying to address these challenges, OPM consultant Odd Hanssen is participating in a WHO expert group consultation on health systems for health security. The event, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 6-7 March, will bring together experts in the field to identify the concrete ways in which health system and health security are linked, and allow for the estimation of national and global costs of strengthening health systems towards global health security.


Odd, consultant in our Health team, will be part of discussions on the costing methodology to be used for elements of the health system that are part of health security. 

Find out more about our work on health financing, and how we help countries progress towards universal health coverage.