4.3: Use the 7-1-7 approach to prioritize activities for financing
The 7-1-7 approach identifies bottlenecks and remedial actions that can feed into the development of operational (annual) or strategic (multi-year) planning cycles, including National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS). In many settings, effective NAPHS implementation has been hindered by lack of prioritization. Integrating the 7-1-7 approach into the NAPHS process, and focusing on areas identified for performance improvement, helps define a more feasible number of priorities per IHR technical area for financing and implementation.
To facilitate this process:
- Ensure that critical stakeholders are involved in event reviews, so that they understand the 7-1-7 approach and rationale for the identification of bottlenecks and corresponding remedial actions;
- Ensure that remedial actions are assigned to relevant IHR technical areas since, commonly, technical area priorities are defined before consolidation into national plans;
- The 7-1-7 approach must be considered alongside the results of IHR and other assessments, including WHO benchmark recommendations to determine NAPHS priorities. In determining what to prioritize during an implementation period, 7-1-7 bottlenecks and remedial actions can be incorporated as additional items or included as a result of reprioritization of relevant actions from the previous cycle.
The Synthesis Report is designed to include information needed by stakeholders to support these steps and must be disseminated to stakeholders before national planning meetings.
Using 7-1-7 data to inform activity prioritization during operational planning in Uganda
The Uganda Ministry of Health and Infectious Diseases Institute utilized the 7-1-7 approach to inform 2023 NAPHS operational planning. Prior to the NAPHS planning workshop, stakeholders convened to review 7-1-7 results and identify common bottlenecks and corresponding remedial actions. These were then assigned to IHR technical area leads who referenced the data against recommendations from the most recent State Parties Self-Assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR) and Joint External Evaluation (JEE) to determine priorities for the upcoming cycle of NAPHS implementation. For example, use of the 7-1-7 approach identified a bottleneck in the detection of anthrax and viral hemorrhagic fever due to lack of community awareness. This then led to prioritization of the development and distribution of community education materials in the annual operational plan.
Process flowchart adopted by Uganda
Global health security is only as strong as the weakest link.
Sign up for our newsletter and stay updated on the latest from the 7-1-7 Alliance community of practice.