FAQ
IHP and related initiatives
- What is the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and how does the IHP relate to it?
- What other initiatives are there working alongside the IHP?
- Why do we need the IHP+?
- How is IHP+ being coordinated?
- How will we know if IHP+ is successful?
- What are the key challenges facing IHP+?
- Will the IHP+ result in fewer resources allocated for specific health issues such as HIV and AIDS?
1/ What is the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and how does the IHP relate to it?
The Global Campaign for the Health MDGs is a programme to a recognition of the need for urgent and collective action to address the off-track health MDGs and to help sustain this high level momentum through 2015. The IHP was only the first of a range of initiatives to be launched under the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs umbrella
2/ What other initiatives are there working alongside the IHP?
There are a range of initiatives working alongside the IHP under the umbrella of the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs that aim to strengthen national health systems in order to meet the health-related MDGs in line with the principals of the Paris Declaration. These include the Norwegian Prime Minister's initiative on child and maternal mortality, the Heiligendamm G8 'Providing for Health' initiative and the Canadian 'Catalytic Initiative to Save a Million Lives'. The Health 8 leaders agreed to coordinate the implementation of these initiatives, and this is happening through a common IHP+ workplan that is managed by a joint steering group, the Scaling-up Reference Group (SuRG) that provides oversight, coordination and a steering function and an inter-agency IHP+ Core Team based in Washington, DC, Geneva, and Brazzaville that oversees the workplan and the day-to-day coordination of work.
2/ Why do we need the IHP+?
Half-way to 2015, progress towards meeting the health-related MDGs is off-track. The IHP+ will help us focus on health-related outcomes. Better coordination is crucial to achieve these goals. It is vital that we make more effective use of the development assistance already being provided through improved coordination. Comprehensive and strengthened health systems are the basis by which effective health care can be delivered in developing countries and ultimately results achieved. IHP+ will provide a mechanism for a more balanced joint effort to improve health services as a whole.
4/ How is IHP+ being coordinated?
At the country level, co-ordination will be done by existing groups working under a government lead (the 'country health sector teams'). At the global level a Scaling-up Reference Group (SuRG) meets monthly to review progress and provide guidance on the IHP+ work-plan, and an interagency IHP+ Core Team based in the World Bank (Washington, DC), WHO (Geneva) and Brazzaville (WHO AFRO) facilitates the overall co-ordination of the day-to-day work. An IHP+ communications strategy includes regular IHP+ Updates focusing mainly on progress in countries. Various consultations have been held with civil society organisations. Video-conferences are also regularly held with a wide range of development partners to report on progress, in particular at country level. The inter-agency IHP+ Core Team also coordinates efforts to build health systems strengthening capacities and increase harmonization and alignment across agencies.
5/ How will we know if IHP+ is successful?
We will be clear that the IHP+ has succeeded in its task if the world's poorest countries have developed sustainable health systems that are funded through flexible, predictable, long term resources from both domestic and international sources (the IHP+ alone will not meet these MDGs). The IHP+ represents an unprecedented effort by some of the world's richest countries, development agencies, and private sector donors to make this happen. Monitoring and evaluation is a key plank of the IHP+ and the early work on establishing accountability mechanisms is being done by the H8 agencies. External partners (civil society, international and national NGOs) will be included in this process.
6/ What are the key challenges facing IHP+?
The key challenges facing IHP+ are maintaining political commitment to long-term, predictable financing for health systems strengthening; widening engagement in IHP+ of more of the key players; adhering to commitments on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, and the development of forums to discuss major bottlenecks in the global health architecture.
7/ Will the IHP+ result in fewer resources allocated for specific health issues such as HIV and AIDS?
We need to work together on specific health issues such as HIV and AIDS in order to develop strong partnerships and better health systems. The IHP+ will ensure better coordination of health funds rather than displace any of the work already being done. It will build on the work of the Global Task Team and the 3 Ones to make the money work better and improve international coordination in tackling diseases such as AIDS.
NEXT
