Governmental Structures
One of the essential roles of government structures in every country is to take the funding and resources available and distribute them according to public needs. This can go into direct treatment, subsidies for organizations, public health programs, training and hiring new personnel, and research. However, these agencies, having an understanding of the health demographics in the country, contribute directly to guiding and creating health policy that oversees how medical care is distributed and received in the specific country.
Government structures also have much more nuanced and specific roles. Local departments focus on direct frontline care. Other agencies aim to provide the most up-to-date information to the public and spread awareness and education about public health concerns. Other structures are tasked with collecting and analyzing data which is then shared with other agencies and policymakers to make key decisions. Finally, regulation is often in the hands of a specific government structure to oversee drugs and health services, among others, in a country.
Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
NGOs are private, usually nonprofit groups that function independently of any government but seek to work on specific objectives usually related to humanitarian causes. Here, healthcare-related NGOs are discussed. They work independently and collaboratively with government public health systems to address specific primary health problems but also potentially secondary concerns. It depends on the type and specialization of the NGO. These organizations are helpful in supplementing and supporting government activity as they seek to use the latest evidence-based knowledge and expertise as well to provide service and aid. NGOs are often used in poorer nations as a means to distribute donor and international funding meaningfully and transparently as local public health systems are ineffective or corrupt.
NGOs are not just a source of aid, but they typically have a mission to correct the underlying cause which has caused the objective that they are working on. They want to prevent further human suffering and resolve the core issues. Many NGOs are highly specialized, which provides them with significant expertise working worldwide on that issue or disease. At the same time, NGOs have been criticized for causing harm locally by drawing local experts with high salaries and leaving already stretched public health systems even more vulnerable, as applying to third world nations especially. However, without NGOs, it is difficult to complete many public health objectives as their grassroots movement, and community outreach contributes to mobilization and health awareness creation.
References
Congressional Research Service (2017). Public health service agencies: Overview and funding. Web.
Healey-Walsh, R.D. J. (2019). Lippincott CoursePoint Enhanced for DeMarco’s Community and Public Health Nursing (3rd Edition). Wolters Kluwer Health.
Pfeiffer, J., Johnson, W., Fort, M., Shakow, A., Hagopian, A., Gloyd, S., & Gimbel-Sherr, K. (2008). Strengthening health systems in poor countries: A code of conduct for nongovernmental organizations. American Journal of Public Health, 98(12), 2134–2140. Web.