Project for Strengthening Primary Health Care System Based on the National Health Model (2015-2017)
Unlike the neighboring countries in Central America, Honduras has yet to introduce and implement the Primary Health Care (PHC) model managed by family health teams. These multidisciplinary teams are comprised of doctors, nurses, assistance nurses, health promoters, and health volunteers. They play a key role in providing primary health services in the communities through medical outreach and household surveys. The Honduran Ministry of Health (MOH) developed the Health Plan 2010–2014 and the National Health Model (NHM) that consisted of the following three key components: health services, management, and finance. The health services component highlighted the need to address its four key areas, i.e., prevention, promotion, treatment, and rehabilitation in a comprehensive manner through family health teams.
In 2015, IC Net launched the JICA-funded technical cooperation project, Project for Strengthening Primary Health Care System Based on the NHM in Honduras. The project aims to identify an effective model to implement the NHM’s health services component in the target areas of the El Paraiso and Lempira departments. It focuses on capacity development of health officials and healthcare service providers including those working at maternal and child health clinics and polyclinics, as well as those composing the family health teams. The project is expected to achieve its objectives through attaining the following outputs.
- The central- and local-level administrative functions and the mechanism to implement the NHM’s health services component are defined.
- The strengthened system to implement the NHM’s health services component with a focus on maternal and child health is incorporated into the administration in the El Paraiso and Lempira departments.