The European Framework for Action on Integrated Health Services Delivery: an overview (2016)

The European Framework for Action on Integrated Health Services Delivery takes forward the priority of transforming health services delivery to meet the health challenges of the 21st century. It adopts the vision of Health 2020 to place the focus firmly on efforts across government and society and anchors actions in the same principles of a primary health care approach for people-centred health systems.

It calls for actions across four domains:

• working to identify people’s health and multidimensional needs and to partner with populations and individuals;
• ensure that services delivery processes are responsive to needs identified;
• align to other health system functions to support services delivery to perform optimally; and
• facilitate the strategic management of transformations.

The Framework for Action is closely aligned with the values, principles and strategies developed in the global Framework on Integrated, People-Centred Health Services and the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: workforce 2030 adopted at the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly in May 2016. These policies have been adapted to the context of the WHO European Region.

The contents of the Framework for Action have also been aligned with other commitments in the WHO European Region including:

• noncommunicable disease outcomes,
• women’s health,
• reproductive health and
• disease-specific strategies in an effort to coordinate and complement actions and accelerate the implementation of these commitments.

This overview offers an at-a-glance summary of the Framework for Action’s four domains and areas for action.