
Nov 9 , 2024
By Halima Abate (MD)
Establishing purpose-driven systems in health demands cross-sector partnerships to build resilient and equitable health systems. By redefining value in public health and encouraging innovation through collaborative investments and proactive policies, we can work collectively towards the goal of "Health for All," writes Halima Abate (MD), halimabate@gmail.com, a public health professional.
In today's world of limited resources, the demand for purpose-driven systems is more critical than ever, especially in areas of public investment. One sector that urgently needs this shift is health.
Many health systems are currently wrestling with crises like insufficient funding and inadequate infrastructure, factors limiting their ability to provide quality care and improve patient outcomes. The struggle leads to notable gaps in access to healthcare, breeding inequality and stifling innovation.
We should prioritise efficiency and effectiveness through evidence-based strategies to build resilient national health systems. It is imperative to focus on standards, interoperability, and nurturing local capacities for innovation. True innovation comes from developing tailored methods that address specific public health needs, paving the way for lasting improvements in health. This vision can only be realised through establishing an innovative ecosystem, a collaboration of various stakeholders, including public and private sectors, civil societies, universities, and entrepreneurs. Such a network is vital for creating public health systems that are efficient, effective, and resilient, ensuring that no one is left behind.
At the heart of health innovation lies the interplay between state entities, businesses, philanthropists, and the global research community, all co-creating value through risk-sharing. Their combined efforts can unveil new opportunities to strengthen health systems, enhance care, and streamline operations. However, transitioning from research and development to practical implementation does not always yield the desired outcomes.
Complex systemic barriers often impede scaling efforts, and though there are proven, scalable health interventions ready to tackle public health priorities, too often, current strategies miss the mark.
We need to identify systematic, innovative approaches to scale locally appropriate health interventions. Simultaneously, we should tackle the barriers that hinder these innovations from flourishing. As the vital guardian of health, the public sector should take a proactive role in promoting the scaling-up process and ensuring the sustainability of innovative measures that can accelerate health improvements.
The lack of collaboration needed to drive innovation demonstrates the importance of forging the right partnerships. A collaborative, systematic, and sustainable approach is essential for scaling up innovations that can substantially impact health. Local ecosystems should establish sustainable, community-owned frameworks that actively engage diverse sectors and stakeholders, ensuring innovation leads to transformative health outcomes.
In the bigger picture, health innovation and economic growth are intertwined in addressing our collective health needs. Implementing people-centred and sustainable economic policies that promote holistic health is crucial. This requires apparent health and industrial policies focused on delivering timely health innovations equitably. Achieving this demands collective investment, sufficient financing, and a globally coordinated innovation ecosystem that can provide essential technologies, ensuring they are widely available and accessible to all.
Reimagining value in health means policy processes do more than fix market failures or play second fiddle to innovation. It requires reframing value in public health impact, directing innovation toward societal health needs. The reframing calls for active public discussions about the paths innovation should take and how rewards are distributed, as value creation is inherently a collective endeavour. The required transformation can be realised when governments take bold steps to outline mission-driven strategies for health innovation. These strategies should focus on creating commercial opportunities while enhancing health outcomes, ensuring that public interests guide the direction of innovation rather than the other way around.
PUBLISHED ON
Nov 09,2024 [ VOL
25 , NO
1280]
Advertorials | May 23,2025
Featured | Aug 22,2020
View From Arada | Feb 06,2021
Fortune News | Jul 21,2024
Fortune News | Apr 26,2019
Fortune News | Feb 19,2022
My Opinion | Aug 18,2024
Fortune News | Apr 27,2025
Commentaries | May 11,2024
My Opinion | 130022 Views | Aug 14,2021
My Opinion | 126319 Views | Aug 21,2021
My Opinion | 124336 Views | Sep 10,2021
My Opinion | 122104 Views | Aug 07,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
May 31 , 2025
It is seldom flattering to be bracketed with North Korea and Myanmar. Ironically, Eth...
May 24 , 2025
Public hospitals have fallen eerily quiet lately. Corridors once crowded with patient...
May 17 , 2025
Ethiopia pours more than three billion Birr a year into academic research, yet too mu...
May 10 , 2025
Federal legislators recently summoned Shiferaw Teklemariam (PhD), head of the Disaste...
May 31 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
Real-estate developers have formed a new lobbying group, the Ethiopian Real Estate De...
May 31 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE
A draft proclamation, endorsed by the Council of Ministers two weeks ago, will permit...
May 31 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
Regulators at the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) have issued a notice to commercial...
May 31 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE
The Ministry of Water & Energy has announced plans to enlist institutions located...