Abstract
The benefits of an interconnected world for health care remain untapped. As a result of the politics of inequality between rich and poor countries, one or a few health systems are set up as models. Every country, irrespective of political or economic status, should be open to learning from others to build relevant and cost-effective systems. To combat the current global challenge of chronic non-communicable diseases, poor countries have the advantage of flexible health systems that are veritable laboratories of health systems research. Not only can research conducted in these health systems help harness the potential of mobile communication technologies and informal health providers, it can also help rich country health systems adapt to meet the chronic disease challenge.
Highlights
The benefits of an interconnected world for health care remain untapped
The Nigerian health system with all its flaws ought to be able to speak to the flaws in the National Health Service in England, for example
When we expand our understanding of what constitutes a health system to include its functioning and mission, it becomes clear that the thought experiment is not quite so far-fetched: a health system consists of people, institutions and resources held together by ideals
Summary
The notion that one model for health care—the Western one— can serve us all and in the future is the biggest obstacle to achieving a truly interconnected world and combatting the emerging global challenges of health and social wellbeing. When we expand our understanding of what constitutes a health system to include its functioning and mission, it becomes clear that the thought experiment is not quite so far-fetched: a health system consists of people, institutions and resources held together by ideals. These ideals include improving population health, protecting people from the cost of ill-health, providing health care with fair treatment to all, and responding to non-health expectations related to health; e.g., education. In human history, this may be the first period when the absence of a health system in a country may have advantages
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