Creating partnerships for change: Improving access and quality of healthcare through an integrated multi-sectoral approach to health sector reform in West Bank and Gaza

Healthcare delivery in the West Bank and Gaza has been characterized by health service provider fragmentation, varying clinical standards, donor driven interventions, and a lack of civic participation. This has resulted in varying levels of quality of care and client satisfaction. To address these issues, the USAID-funded $86 million Palestinian Health Sector Reform and Development Project (the Flagship Project) is partnering with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) to introduce an integrated, multi-sectoral approach to health sector reform and quality improvement. The approach fosters coordination between communities, the MoH, Ministry of Education, NGOs, private sector, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and academic institutions to drive health sector reforms and ensure that the public health needs of the population are met. Through combining clinical and community-based interventions within a harmonized reform initiative, the approach supports a dynamic and continuous interaction between health facilities, public institutions, and the communities they serve, thereby improving quality and equity of health services, tackling access to care for marginalized populations, increasing accountability, and dismantling barriers to trust in the public health care system. Despite the challenges of operating within a highly fragmented and underdeveloped health system, the MoH's integrated multi-sectoral approach has demonstrated early impact on the Palestinian health system as both a nexus for creating partnerships for change across the health sector and a replicable model for health sector reform globally.