Executive Summary

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation aims to improve the health of the poor and most vulnerable populations through reducing inequities and promoting sustainable development. The inequality between the health of the rich and the poor of this world is increasing. This calls for a concerted and stronger response of the international community in building partnerships with developing countries and countries in transition in supporting health development offers that better meet the needs of the poor.

Seven Guiding Principles lie behind SDC's cooperation in health:
i) good health - a basic human right, ii) focus on equity and poverty, iii) empowerment, iv) partnership, v) ownership, vi) gender-equality development, and vii) achieving sustainable impact.

SDC's strategic priorities in contributing to pro poor health systems are:

1. Strengthening Good Governance of Health Systems
2. Developing Pro Poor Health Services
3. Empowerment of Communities and Users of Health Services
4. Control of major Communicable Diseases
5. Improving Reproductive Health

The following key operational strategies will be pursued while addressing these challenges:

• Promoting a programme or sector approach
• Supporting exchange and coordination between all stakeholders and fostering harmonisation of donor support between donors and donors and their partners
• Contributing to capacity building of partners
• Promoting health research and evidence based decision making
• Working beyond the health sector to improve health
• Promoting synergies between bilateral and multilateral activities
• Ensuring the continuum from humanitarian aid to development cooperation

SDC's development cooperation and humanitarian aid in health operates at three levels: at the level of partner countries, at the multilateral/international level and at the Swiss level. The agency fosters exchange and synergies between all three levels of cooperation to enhance coherence in its actions and among its partners.

This health policy represents a general framework guiding SDC's contribution to improving health at all levels of involvement.