Comparing Health Systems

Running head: COMPARING HEALTH SYSTEMS 1
Comparing Health Systems
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COMPARING HEALTH SYSTEMS 2
Abstract
Comparing healthcare systems is crucial in ensuring that there is proper performance of different
healthcare systems. This report evaluates the performance of the UK and Ethiopian healthcare
system using the World health organization framework of the healthcare systems. The building
blocks of the framework of healthcare systems include Health Service delivery, health
Workforce, Health Information, Essential medicines, Health financing, leadership, and
governance. The methods used to collect data of the two healthcare systems include; reviewing
the national health information systems, gathering information on the national and district
databases, review of the health expenditure and utilization surveys, review of the national health
accounts and review of administrative records. The key findings include; the UK healthcare
system is performing better than that of Ethiopia across all the five building blocks of the
healthcare systems. This is attributed to the fact that the UK is a developed country while
Ethiopia is a developing country. Although the UK healthcare system is performing better than
that of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian healthcare system has improved over the years.

COMPARING HEALTH SYSTEMS 3
Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................4
Discussion...................................................................................................................................................4
Healthcare service Delivery..................................................................................................................4
Health Information..............................................................................................................................10
Essential Medicines.............................................................................................................................11
Health Financing.................................................................................................................................13
Leadership and Governance...............................................................................................................14
Methods................................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................15
Reflection.................................................................................................................................................16
References................................................................................................................................................17

COMPARING HEALTH SYSTEMS 4
Introduction
Comparing different healthcare systems using the World Health Organization framework
is key to ensuring that the countries improve on their performance. The countries I chose are the
UK and Ethiopia. This is because the healthcare system of the UK is ranked among the best in
the world while although there is some improvement in Ethiopia healthcare system, it has failed
to reach the standards of the World Health Organization. Comparing the two healthcare systems
will help guide the Ethiopian healthcare system on what needs to the done to help it perform
better. It will also help the UK healthcare system to improve on the various areas that need
improvement.
Discussion
Healthcare service Delivery
The World Health Organization indicates that excellent service delivery is crucial for
every health system. It is also essential to achieving the important Millennium Development
Goals that relate to health such as to reduce maternal and child mortality, the prevalence of
Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV/AIDS (World Health Organization, 2010). The UK healthcare
system offers a range of effective healthcare services through the National Health Service.
Recent studies indicate that the healthcare system is the 2nd best in the world regarding
effectiveness and access to quality healthcare services. This means that the healthcare system is
better than that of Ethiopia. Compared to the Ethiopian health system, UK healthcare system has
short waiting times for services such as basic medical care and longer waiting times for services
such as specialist care and non-emergency services (Global Health Observatory data, 2019).