southern sudan health system assessment - Health Systems 20/20

5. KEY FINDINGS
The health system of Southern Sudan was analyzed along six key functions where the health system
must perform, namely governance, financing, human resources, service delivery, HIS, and pharmaceutical
management. See Box 4 for a definition of each of these functions.
Box 4: Definition of Health Systems Functions
• Governance: The set of traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This
definition encompasses: (1) the process by which governments are selected, monitored, and replaced; (2) the
capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; (3) the respect of citizens,
private organizations, and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among
them.
• Health financing: The mobilization, accumulation and allocation of money to cover the health needs of
the people, individually and collectively, in the health system. (WHO 2000)
• Human resources for health: All people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance health
(WHO 2006).
• Service delivery: The way in which inputs are combined to allow the provision of a series of
interventions or health actions (WHO 2001).
• Health information system: The set of components and procedures organized with the objective of
generating information which will improve health care management decisions at all levels of the health system
(Lippeveld et al. 2000)
• Pharmaceutical and commodity management: The set of practices aimed at ensuring the timely
availability and appropriate use of safe, effective, quality medicines, health products, and services in any health
care setting.
5.1 GOVERNANCE
5.1.1 OVERVIEW
The Southern Sudanese health system is decentralized into four major levels – the central, state, county,
and community – as illustrated in Figure 1.
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