The Ministry of Health is in the process of establishing a new Health Sector Strategy (HSS) 2017 – 2020, to provide a context that will guide Departmental efforts, linked to the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) of the Government. The four main health policy objectives as set out in the NSDP under Society Pillar 3.1 are as follows:

• Ensuring that the population has equitable access to affordable, quality health care through a fair distribution of health facilities that are suitably resourced and equipped
• Reducing the incidence (and impact) of NCD and communicable diseases
• Improving population health and well-being by promoting healthy life style choices and health seeking behaviour
• Building health sector management capacity and systems to deliver efficient and effective delivery of quality health services aligned with national directives.

This will be achieved through adherence to some guiding principles in the development of strategic and operational plans:

• Universal health coverage – ensuring that all citizens have equitable access to affordable health care, including emergency, curative and rehabilitative services.
• Primary health care is the foundation of the health system and remains the core strategy for addressing most health issues.
• The needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations must be addressed.
• Responsibility for health requires multi-sectoral collaboration – including partnerships with other government agencies, development partners, NGOs, the private sector, civil society.
• Active community engagement is important in encouraging communities and individuals to assume responsibility for their own health.
• Evidence based practice must inform health service planning, development and delivery. In turn, monitoring and evaluation of Health service delivery is essential for building the knowledge base to guide future service development.