Evaluation of implementation of regional flagship areas in the WHO South-East Asia Region 2014–2018

Overview

Regional Flagship Areas provided acceleration and thrust to the key health priorities of the SEA Region. WHO has made significant contributions towards the flagships through highly acknowledged technical assistance, which has led to the achievement of improved health outcomes. It is important to acknowledge the game-changing progress that has been made in the Region since the launch of flagship priorities in 2014. Five countries have now eliminated measles, six have controlled rubella. All 11 SEA Region countries are implementing national action plans to tackle NCDs as well as AMR. Region-wide, the coverage and quality of health services are stronger than ever, while the unfinished MDG agenda has now been finished with a focus on reaching new targets under the SDGs. Emergency risk management proceeds apace, while the battle to eliminate diseases on the verge of elimination is being won. The drive to end TB has gathered unprecedented momentum.

In addition to the existence of flagships, multiple other factors such as political will and support from ministries of health and a commensurate increase in funding, institutional capacity, and the health systems of upper-to-middle-income countries have driven the advancement towards targets, with flagships playing a catalytic role. Despite the achievements, some key challenges persist in the implementation of the flagships (discussed flagship-wise in Section 3). A stronger leadership role was anticipated from WHO in political advocacy, fund mobilization, enabling the Member States to generate evidence through research and innovation, and refocus in areas such as equity, inter-flagship collaboration and multisectoral coordination.