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Building equitable, resilient healthcare systems - Our work and impact
Robust, equitable, inclusive healthcare systems are essential when it comes to improving people’s health, ensuring access to prevention and care for all, and coping with health and climate crises. As climate change accelerates, there is also a crucial need to focus on developing adaptive, people-centred healthcare systems that can address health and climate challenges.
As France’s development cooperation agency, we help our partners build sustainable healthcare systems, using a comprehensive field-based approach that is co-developed with local authorities. We work on all facets of the healthcare system:
- Health services
- Governance
- Finance
- Human resources
- Community health
- Digitalisation
- Social protection
We have developed integrated healthcare services that are accessible to all, and we support the development of coordinated, multi-level healthcare services that ensure continuity between community and hospital care. We do this by strengthening existing regulations, modernising infrastructure, digitalising services, promoting health and improving care pathways.
10 million
A projected shortage of 10 million healthcare workers is expected in low- and middle-income countries by 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To address this, France has made the training of healthcare workers (70% of whom are women) a key part of its strategy, in particular by supporting the WHO Health Academy.
OECD, Report: States of Fragility 2022
Our strategic priorities
As part of our efforts to promote fair, resilient healthcare systems, we focus on:
- Strengthening the skills and distribution of healthcare workers. To address the shortage of healthcare workers worldwide, we support the planning, education and Continuing Professional Development (CPD), management, and fair distribution of healthcare human resources, with special consideration for gender equality and local needs.
- Setting up resilient and equitable health coverage systems. We support reforms in health financing systems (contributory or subsidised) to protect people against financial risks, through structural development, calculation of contributions, engagement with service providers, expenditure management, and support for universal health coverage (UHC) and social protection policies.
- Strengthening healthcare provision. We promote quality healthcare provision to ensure continuity between hospital care and community health services, while strengthening infrastructure, digitalisation and care planning.
Our framework for action
Our work aligns with France and Europe’s strategic priorities for global health. Strengthening health systems is a priority of France’s Global Health Strategy (2023-2027), which emphasises universal health coverage (UHC), human rights advocacy and the “One Health” approach to human, animal and environmental health.
We are also working to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 3, which aims to “empower people to live healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages”. And we play our part in contributing to France’s international commitments to strengthening health systems and fighting major pandemics.
For further reading
Our services in this area
We support global health and promote fair, resilient healthcare systems by implementing projects that aim to provide our partner countries and organisations with the following services:
- Advice and support
- Technical assistance and tailor-made technical cooperation
- Support on national policymaking
- Coordination with other Team France entities
- Design and implementation of public health projects
- Provision of technical experts
- Assessing and leveraging of project impact
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FAQs
For more about building healthcare resilience
An equitable healthcare system is one that guarantees fair and effective access to good-quality public health services for all people, regardless of their gender or their economic, social or geographical situation. Resilience and inclusiveness are also key characteristics of an equitable healthcare system.
Expertise France supports integrated, rights-based health systems that take account of gender inequalities, social determinants and local vulnerabilities. This approach is in line with France’s Global Health Strategy, which promotes universal health coverage (UHC) as a common goal.
The main barriers to fair access to healthcare include:
- Local and social inequalities in access to healthcare
- Cost of services, which can lead to poverty and debt among families and households
- Shortage of healthcare workers
- Weak governance
- Non-inclusive healthcare coverage
Expertise France takes these challenges into account in its health projects, particularly regarding sexual and reproductive rights, the fight against pandemics, mental health, access to water and community prevention.
International cooperation is essential for strengthening national and regional capacities, providing technical expertise, structuring health policies and improving access to healthcare. It supports governments in planning, training human resources and financing health systems.
As the Team France agency for technical cooperation projects, Expertise France supports the development of fairer systems by designing and implementing projects in research, training and health sector restructuring in over 30 countries.
Yes, this framework strategy known as France’s Global Health Strategy 2023–2027. It is based on the principles of human rights, gender equality and solidarity, and places universal health coverage, equity, resilience and adaptation as core priorities.
The French Global Health Strategy guides all of Expertise France’s projects, along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international standards.
Expertise France supports the strengthening of health systems by working on the following focus areas:
- Advising and supporting partners
- Designing and implementing public health projects
- Providing technical expertise
- Assessing and leveraging project impact
- Managing international technical experts for the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Our projects
Key figures in 2024
- 2,260 facilities received support in delivering healthcare services
- 11,767 staff received training to improve their skills/knowledge of the delivery of healthcare services