Towards an Australian Declaration on Integrated Care: Aligning finances and incentives

One of the keys to successful integrated care programs are financing and incentive arrangements that directly promote integrated care provision. Moreover, that these incentives are collective – in other words, how both financial commitments and gains are shared between care organisations and participating professionals. The ability to align financial incentives is a global issue but especially so in Australia where financial flows are highly fragmented. This webinar seeks to examine the challenges that misaligned finance and incentives bring and the potential solutions. The webinar will conclude with a discussion forum that seeks to establish the key messages that policy makers need to hear if integrated care at a clinical or service level can be better enabled. This webinar forms part of a series helping to support IFIC Australia co-produce an evidence-informed ‘Declaration on Integrated Care’ that provides a clear and compelling case for the policies and actions required to achieve it.

International conference celebrating the 45th anniversary of Alma-Ata and 5th anniversary of Astana declarations

On 23 October WHO/Europe, together with UNICEF and the Government of Kazakhstan, is co-hosting an international conference to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Alma-Ata and 5th anniversary of Astana declarations on primary health care. The conference "Primary health care policy and practice: implementing for better results" will be an official side event of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in October 2023.

The Conference will:

• take stock of progress implementing the commitments in the Declaration of Astana on primary health care since 2018, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and demonstrate concrete results;
• shift focus from concepts to action by identifying implementation success factors based on country experiences; and
• identify policies and practices to future-proof primary health-care transformation for moving towards universal health coverage, for greater resilience in the face of emergencies, and better health and well-being. 

Structure ...

Amref International University 1st Primary Healthcare Congress

It has been 45 years since the landmark 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration, which defined Primary Health Care (PHC) as “essential healthcare based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford.”

The goal of PHC is to provide better health services for all, making it an integral part of a country’s health system and the central function for the community’s overall social and economic development. The aim is to achieve the highest possible level of health and well-being, ensuring equitable distribution and a sustainable healthy life without financial burden on patients.

Despite the promulgation of the PHC agenda after the Alma-Ata Declaration, its actualization has remained elusive.  The declaration outlined eight key elements and four pillars necessary to support the actualization of the ...

World leaders commit to redouble efforts towards universal health coverage by 2030

Today, 21 September 2023, at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly High-Level Meeting, world leaders have approved a new Political Declaration on “Universal Health Coverage (UHC): expanding our ambition for health and well-being in a post-COVID world”.  

The declaration is hailed as a vital catalyst for the international community to take big and bold actions and mobilize the necessary political commitments and financial investments to attain the UHC target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The UHC target measures the ability of countries to ensure that everyone receives the health care they need, when and where they need it, without facing financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of key services from health promotion to prevention, protection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. Alarmingly, global progress towards UHC has been largely stagnating since 2015, before stalling in 2019.

The urgency of the declaration is evident in the staggering statistics ...