Expanding health service delivery and developing institutional capacity: getting the balance right in Afghanistan

Katja Schemionek, with Aqila Noori, Ahmad Shah Salehi and Nel Druce; September 2009

Since the end of the conflict in 2001, the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, working with development partners and non-state providers, has made significant progress in improving basic health care delivery. It has also made progress in some areas of institutional development, but others have been neglected. This might place current achievements at risk and affect the sustainability of health system performance.

The paper explores Afghanistan’s progress and challenges in key areas of institutional development: human resource development and management, planning and budgeting, the management and administration system, and delegation of authority to provincial health teams.