Hossain, Shailani B.

GED105 – B15

Exercise A.2.4.1

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)

World Health Organization (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority for

health within the United Nations(UN) System. It is responsible for providing leadership

on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and

standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to

countries, as well as monitoring and assessing health trends. In the Philippines, WHO’s

mission is to assist the government in addressing the country’s main health needs

according to the national policies, focusing on the links between health and poverty

reduction, social inequalities, and inequitable access to health care and health services.

Addressing health system inefficiencies and health inequities brought about by the very

characteristic of the Philippine health system remain critical challenges in the

Philippines. The fragmented nature of health financing, devolved structure of service

delivery, and mixed public– private health system poses immense challenges to

correcting the inefficiencies and monitoring the performance of the Philippine health

sector. Meanwhile, the absence of a facilitated referral system robs the patient of the

opportunity to navigate the health system effectively – from identifying the appropriate

health-care provider, to getting advice on needed medical tests or procedures and

referral back from hospitals to primary care for continued health care.
References:

United Nation Information Centre Manila. (n.d.). Resident Agencies in the

Philippines | UNIC Manila. Unicmanila.Org. https://unicmanila.org/the-un-in-the-

region/the-un-in-the-philippines/resident-agencies-in-the-philippines/#:

%7E:text=Founded%20in%201919%2C%20the%20ILO,agency%20of%20the

%20United%20Nations.

Dayrit MM, Lagrada LP, Picazo OF, Pons MC & Villaverde MC. (2018). The

Philippines health system review. World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-

East Asia. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/274579. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

IGO