Technical report on the self-assessment of essential public health operations in the Republic of Armenia

The current stage of health reforms in Armenia is guided by the principles, values and concepts underlying the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s flagship policy documents: the European health policy framework Health 2020, and its main pillar the European Action Plan for Strengthening Public Health Capacities and Services (EAP-PHS). The EAP-PHS proposes 10 essential public health operations (EPHOs) as the basis for assessing public health capacities and services and wider policy-making in the WHO European Region.

In Armenia, the self-assessment of public health capacities and services was conducted using the EPHO self-assessment tool provided by the Regional Office. This technical report summarizes the findings of this self-assessment for each of the 10 EPHOs, outlines their main strengths and weaknesses, and identifies areas where further progress can be made. It places special attention on prevalent noncommunicable diseases, which constitute the main burden of disease in the country and which public health services are key to addressing.

The report concludes with recommendations for developing actionable policies, and for initiating steps towards strengthening public health services in the country while maintaining the high level of sanitary-epidemiological safety of the population. From the long list of main recommendations, it identifies the following four as high priorities for further work:

• finalizing the draft law “On public health” to clarify the mandates of public health services and reduce fragmentation, thereby increasing effectiveness in service delivery;
• ensuring adequate financing for public health services, particularly by integrating health promotion and disease prevention services into primary health care;
• strengthening human resources for public health services, and aligning the allocation of human resources with the needs dictated by burdens of disease; 
• mainstreaming public health research for the development and implementation of evidence-based public health policy and action.