Washington DC, 13 July 2023 (PAHO) - The Virtual Campus for Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization (VCPH/PAHO) has launched a tutored course to strengthen the technical capacity of health workers in Haiti for the design, development, and monitoring of Integrated Health Services Networks (IHSDNs).
Seventeen participants have begun this initiative, which will last for 18 weeks and aims to form a team of facilitators with the ability to analyze integrated health services networks in the country's context and formulate action plans for their development. Participants will have access to an online tool for measuring IHSDNs, allowing them to put into practice the knowledge acquired and establish a baseline for assessing the state of integration of health service networks.
Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to develop an analytical and explanatory framework for the determinants and factors contributing to the achievement of universal health. They will also be prepared to conduct participatory processes to measure IHSDNs using the online tool. Participants in this initiative will form a pool of tutors who will teach the use of the tool in French across the country.
The Integrated Health Services Networks initiative aims to contribute to the development of health systems based on Primary Health Care (PHC), and thus to improve the delivery of health services delivery so that they are more accessible, equitable, efficient, of higher technical quality, and more responsive to citizens’ expectations.
IHSDNs are one of the main operational expressions of health systems based on PHC at the service delivery level, supporting several of its most essential elements, including universal health coverage and universal access to health services, comprehensive care at the first level, , family and community participation, and intersectoral action, among others.
