Salud internacional: funciones esenciales de la salud pública, un tema emergente en la pandemia de la COVID-19

Resumen

The impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on health systems has created a chaotic scenario, severely hindering the ability to meet health needs and negatively affecting the provision of health services to the population. This prolonged health crisis has exposed the collapse of health systems and their lack of institutional capacity to effectively address health emergencies. This situation is largely attributable to the segmentation and fragmentation rooted in the regional structure of these systems. Meanwhile, limited progress has been made in evaluating their performance. One of the primary objectives of health systems is universal health coverage. Nevertheless, achieving this goal requires the implementation of strategies aimed at strengthening these systems through the evaluation of their performance and the promotion of international health security. In this context, essential public health functions (EPHFs) emerge as crucial elements representing fundamental actions o maintain and improve population health. This review was conducted to guide health policy development by updating and disseminating the application of EPHFs across multiple levels of public health implementation. Understanding and applying these essential functions will enable comparative analyses in national plans related to public health, especially in health crisis situations. Despite significant evidence closely linking EPHFs to the improvement of health systems and the promotion of international health, there remains a lack of data and empirical evidence concerning different institutions and specific areas. It is crucial to make progress generate this information in order to support the effectiveness of EPHFs across various institutional contexts in order to fully understand their impact and scope.