Functions

The PSO has three functions:

The PSO provides direct policy support inputs, to MOH and other health sector stakeholders, in terms of policy formation and translation into implementation. In doing so, the PSO:

analyses the potential, limitations and implications of explicit, implicit and emergent policies and innovations in the health sector;
provides technical assistance for upgrading the MOPH information system in order to generate pertinent information for decision making, policy implementation and evaluation;
analyses and monitors the political geography of health sector stakeholders and people’s expectations regarding health care, with its implications for policy options;
mobilises expertise, academic and other, in Lebanon and in other countries, so as to build an external knowledge network to guarantee that policy recommendations are based on the state of-the art scientific evidence.

The PSO provides the permanent secretariat for the organisation of National Health Conference events involving a wide range of stakeholders in ongoing participative debates on key health sector issues. It assists the Organising Committee of the Conference to achieve, through the preparation, implementation and follow-up of these events, objectives of:

Increased visibility of the technical work, achievements and innovations produced by health sector actors;
Heightened awareness among stakeholders about competing priorities and emerging problems;
Receptivity of public opinion to rational policies.

Enhanced exchange of experience;
Accelerated dissemination of organisational innovations and benchmark practices by contagion and diffusion;
Enhanced consensus around, involvement in and ownership of health sector reform initiatives championed by MOH;
Institutionalised and sustained reliance on collaborative governance;
Identification of challenges, weaknesses and opportunities requiring further analysis or research.