A meeting was held at the Ministry of Health with the delegation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Mission on the implementation of the Health Accounting System (SHA) and evaluation of healthcare expenditure monitoring, which is on a two-day business trip to our country. Hande Harmanci, the head of the WHO representative office in Azerbaijan, also participated in the meeting.

In his speech, Minister of Health Teymur Musayev stressed that our country attaches great importance to cooperation with the World Health Organization. According to him, Azerbaijan has been closely cooperating with the prestigious health organization since 1992, and this cooperation is developing steadily. Thus, over the past 30 years, significant work has been done within the cooperation framework, and several projects have been successfully implemented at the national, regional and global levels.

The minister emphasized that healthcare and the economy are inextricably linked in his speech. "At the same time, a strong economy is needed to generate the financial resources necessary for developing the healthcare system. The Health Accounting System was developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other international development organizations. It is a globally used tool that enables governments to systematically monitor and evaluate health financial flows. In conclusion, the Ministry of Health is ready to provide any possible assistance for implementing this program in Azerbaijan," Teymur Musayev said.

Expressing his gratitude for the warm welcome, a representative of the WHO Evaluation Mission, David Gzirishvili, noted the implementation of essential reforms in the healthcare sector in Azerbaijan. According to him, one of the priorities of WHO is to provide technical support to the countries in implementing the SHA. Thus, as a global leader in delivering healthcare expenditure tracking, data and international comparisons, WHO provides technical support to countries to assess the country context, conduct baseline assessments, build local capacity and ensure the continuity of the SHA process.

In addition to its main function, SHA is used as primary data for monitoring and evaluating the health system's performance. In addition, tracking healthcare expenditures based on the SHA methodology provides more comprehensive information on the use of health services than traditional fiscal analysis.