Content area
Full Text
Providing quality health services is key to achieving universal health coverage (UHC).1 Measuring and improving access alone is insufficient to ensure that people receive quality care2 and to monitor progress towards UHC.3
In 2018, three publications have significantly increased knowledge on the importance of the quality of health services.4-6 The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the National Academies of Sciences in the United States of America and the Lancet Global Health Commission all covered aspects of the quality of health systems in context of UHC and the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Authors of the reports call for quality to be a core UHC consideration, with attention to the measurement of quality at local, national and international levels. As summarized by WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, without quality, UHC remains an empty promise.7
WHO concurs with recommendations that health authorities develop a clear national direction for improving the quality of health services and establish mechanisms to measure progress. Explicit policies to address the quality of health services are needed, and where multiple quality-improvement initiatives exist, these are best combined in a systematic coordinated effort to improve care across the health system. Most national governments may need to clarify structures for governance, accountability and monitoring of effort to improve quality;...