National Health Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021.

The National Health Strategic Plan is a national policy with a sectoral approach. The timeframe of the Strategic Plan is 5 years between 2017 and 2021. The purpose of this Strategic Plan is to provide accessible, affordable health care and equitable health services of the highest quality, by and for all in order to improve the health status of people living in the Cook Islands.
In order to ensure food security, initiatives will be supported on ensuring nutrition values of agriculture produce including organic farming practices. Household food security and good nutrition will be ensured through home/school gardening and healthy food preparations. Furthermore, the studies will be carried out to develop a daily nutrient intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements through surveys using import data and household expenditures. The consumption of fruit and vegetables is highly recommended to all Cook Islanders for a healthy life. Nutrition Programs will be carried out, particularly school feeding programs, to prevent childhood obesity. In order to improve the health and nutrition status of infants, baby-friendly hospital initiatives will be supported and exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months will be promoted.
Institutional capacity will be strengthened to meet the needs, demands and expectations of all Cook Islanders from the health systems and health service. Therefore, general administrative and management responsibilities of the hospital and Community Health Service will be strengthened. Financial control and monitoring of all health funding sources will be strengthened according to the standards. The capacity of health staff will be enhanced through training. Health information system will be developed by improving data sources, enhancing data management, and strengthening the application of information and communication technologies. Research studies will be conducted to improve health systems. Health infrastructure and facilities will be developed in line with the results of ongoing assessments to improve health services. Environmental health status will be protected through enforcement of sewage and sanitation regulations, food safety and food standards, water standards, quarantine and border control support services at ports of entry, antimicrobial resistance, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk management. Therefore, environment health monitoring will be strengthened especially in relation to vector, safe water, proper sanitation, and waste management. Community health services will be provided under the principles of Primary Health Care and Healthy Islands context. Quality clinical care and services will be provided to meet the needs and expectations of patients in accordance with the policies and resources of the Ministry of Health with a gender-sensitive approach. In addition to that, quality pharmaceutical service, diagnostics and support services will be improved to meet clinical needs. The collaboration of health partners will be encouraged in the implementation of agreed health related interventions and activities. In addition to that, policies will be developed with the partners in the food and agriculture sectors regarding Codex Alimentarius and biosecurity. Moreover, the contribution of local health partners to the development and implementation of social policies to improve the lives of the vulnerable children, young people and their families, elderly people and people with disabilities and women will be optimized.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk management will be integrated into food systems to ensure food security at all times for all Cooks Islanders.
Monitoring and evaluation will be based on data collection from all relevant sources for analysis and provision of timely and accurate information to governments and partners. Therefore, the monitoring and evaluation will be carried out by using Te Marae Ora’s Health Information system consists of a core set of 20 health indicators.