HSS principles
- Country-driven
GAVI Alliance Health System Strengthening (HSS) support is intended to address weaknesses identified by implementing countries. They are encouraged to use recent immunisation programme and health sector analyses, National Health Sector Plans and similar inputs to identify weaknesses and gaps in current funding.
- Country-aligned
HSS should be consistent with the existing objectives, strategies and planning cycles of government health sector policy, aligned with government management systems and financial procedures, and reflected in national budgets wherever possible.
- Harmonised
HSS should add value to (not compete with) current or planned efforts to strengthen the health systems by national governments, civil society and health sector partners.
- Predictable
HSS support is, in principle, available for the life of National Health Sector Plans (or equivalent).
- Additional
HSS funds must be additional to the government’s existing budget and not displace previously allocated health sector resources.
- Inclusive and collaborative
All key stakeholders (beyond immunisation) should be involved in HSS. Government entities, partners, civil society, and the private sector should all be informed and involved, as appropriate, in the planning, implementation and evaluation stages.
- Catalytic
HSS should not result in the creation of stand-alone, independently managed projects. Ideally, it should be an agent for catalytic change where possible – for example, testing pilot projects that could subsequently be scaled up by government.
- Innovative
GAVI encourages health service innovation. HSS can be used to test new strategies or approaches or to adapt learning and best practice from elsewhere.
- Results-oriented
Implementing countries must link strategies for tackling barriers to specific indicators that show how use of HSS funds will improve immunisation and other forms of child and maternal health care. The results should be evident at local level. Progress towards agreed goals will be monitored by GAVI Alliance partners including WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Health Metrics Network.
- Sustainability
Implementing countries must take into consideration how the recurring financial and technical requirements of health service improvement of HSS support can be sustained beyond the period of GAVI support.
In addition to these principles, the HSS initiative is intended to:
- Be fully aligned with OECD DAC The OECD Development Assistance Committee principles and be accountable for measurement
- Share experience with other initiatives such as PMNCH (Partnership for Maternal, Neonatal and Child’s Health), HMN (Health Metrics Network), GFATM (Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria) and the Global Health Workforce Alliance
- Identify best practices to share with implementing countries and other partners
- Contribute to the HSS architecture being designed by the World Bank, WHO and other stakeholders.
See also:
Related downloads:
