What We're Reading: Week of February 11

This post is part of a new series we’re launching on the PHCPI blog. Every week, we’ll share our favorite articles on primary health care and related topics that you can’t miss.

• On February 1, WHO Executive Board members agreed on a draft resolution in preparation for the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage in September 2019. The resolution will next be posed to the World Health Assembly in May.
• UHC2030 is asking individuals and organizations to complete an online survey to feed into the organization’s set of key asks for the UN High-Level Meeting on UHC. The deadline is March 10.
• The Brookings Institution lays out three ways to create high-value health systems: 1) Create better systems – including by collecting more and better data – to encourage efficiency and innovation; 2) Strengthen public and private sector collaboration to shift care from hospitals to communities; 3) Build new platforms to exchange knowledge about healthcare delivery or financing.
• Results-based financing (RBF) for health systems – where funds are conditional on outcomes – has not fully lived up to its potential in the DRC, Zimbabwe and Uganda, notes a new study published this week. Still, the authors note that RBF has helped to increase revenue at the primary care level in these countries.
• Early cervical cancer diagnosis can save the lives of over 300,000 women, said the World Health Organization on last week’s World Cancer Day. To address this, the WHO called on member states to mobilize resources to strengthen health systems and include services like palliative care in universal health coverage plans.
• The Gavi Alliance has helped drive tremendous progress on child immunization, but there are still gaps in access to lifesaving vaccines – in part due to weak health systems, high prices, changing demographics, conflict and more.
• Only one-quarter of multidrug-resistant TB cases are being treated today, says Peter Sands of the Global Fund. Drug-resistant TB poses one of the greatest threats to global health security today.  

Read something we missed? We'd love to hear from you! Submit your favorite articles on primary health care or related topics from the week to info@improvingphc.org, or tag us in your tweet @ImprovingPHC