Health and poverty

Civil society refers to a wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations who participate in public or community public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) include community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations (source: World Bank).

Health services include all services dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disease, or the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health. They include personal and non-personal health services (source: WHO).

A health system comprises all organizations, institutions and resources devoted to producing actions whose primary intent is to improve health. Most national health systems include public, private, traditional and informal sectors. The four essential functions of a health system have been defined as service provision, resource generation, financing and stewardship (source: WHO).

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) describe a country's macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs. PRSPs are prepared by governments through a participatory process involving civil society and development partners, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (source: World Bank).

Health policies which prioritize and respond to the needs of poor people (source: WHO).

In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) drafted a framework to guide efforts to strengthen health systems. This framework identifies six building blocks needed to establish, sustain and strengthen a health system, while allowing it to provide needed services, universal access to those services and universal coverage of health care benefits. The six building blocks are: service delivery, health workforce, financing, medical products and technologies, health information system and leadership and governance (source: Global Health Council).

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000 (source: UNDP).