Priorities for Arab Health Policy Makers

Abstract

Over the last couple of decades, all regions of the world have seen profound shifts in the approach to ensuring the health of populations, from a curative to a disease-preventive and health promotion approach. Many major global health milestones, including those on health systems, financing for health, and health goals including the Sustainable Development Goals, have reflected – sometimes, encouraged – these shifts, which we classify under seven heads: demographic, epidemiologic, public health, service delivery, health workforce, financing, and governance. This document tracks these milestones and analyzes these shifts and consolidates a raft of health priorities, one per shift, as put forward by many leaders in the health field. In rough order – with some overlaps – they cover the following: focusing more on the needs of the elderly (such as “aging in place”), on youth (reducing noncommunicable risk factors), and on pro-health urban planning; identifying priorities for noncommunicable diseases; elevating primary care as the main platform, alongside education (on, e.g., tobacco control); adopting Health in All Policies; expanding medical education and training, including that for nonphysician providers; expanding the tax base to ensure greater resources for health as a share of total government spending; and, finally, enhancing accountability, curbing corruption, and strengthening institutional accountability. It is hoped that these suggested priorities, as contextualized by each country according to its resources and values, will help health policy makers in the region stay ahead of the curve in these seven areas, in view of these countries’ need to continue flattening their COVID-19 curve.