Saturday, 26th August
11:00-12:15

Session hosted by WHO Western Pacific Region.

Advancing towards universal health coverage (UHC)is about making health care and services accessible to all people and communities. Improving health care quality is essential in improving access by all population groups, especially
vulnerable populations. Quality, either perceived or real, affects people’s trust in health systems and influences their inclination to access care and services.

The goal of leaving no-one behind requires health services to be accessible and are delivered in a way that is responsive and inclusive, engaging all population groups, especially the most vulnerable and hard-to- reach. On the supply side, actions are needed to improve quality by changing practices by providers, institutions and systems. On the demand side, strengthened health literacy and engagement of patients, families and communities, especially from disadvantaged groups, are key to achieve sustainable changes.

Countries increasingly recognize the importance of delivering safe, quality and people-centred health services. However, a key challenge is how to translate plans and policies into practical actions.

This session will bring together academic, policy-makers, health care providers and patient advocates to discuss ways to strengthen health care quality that foster equity-focused health services. The focus will be how to bring about a
culture change among institutions and providers to enable respectful and compassionate service delivery that engage and empower patients, families and communities.

Anjana Bhushan, Acting Coordinator, Integrated Service Delivery World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific
Loun Mondol, Chief of Bureau of Policy and Health Sector Reform, Department of Planning and Health Information; Cambodia
Paa Mohamed Nazir bin Abdul Rahman, Senior Principal Assistance Director, Medical Development Division Ministry of Health; Malaysia
Clive Tan, Consultant (Public Health) Ministry of Health; Singapore