Peru’s good economic performance in recent years, together with targeted social spending and health sector initiatives have yielded significant progress in improving population health and helped towards Peru’s central health policy goal of providing effective health coverage to all its population. In common with other middle-income countries in the region, Peru is going through a demographic and epidemiological transition. There is a shift in importance from communicable diseases to non-communicable, especially in urban areas with significant increases in cancer, CVD and diabetes.

The Peruvian health system is evolving. At the heart of this change is an ongoing commitment to reach universal health coverage (UHC). This translates into better access and financial protection, and contributes to better health outcomes. Yet, Peru faces challenges: the population continues to experience high rates of infectious diseases – alongside an increasing prevalence of non-communicable disease. The Peruvian health system, meanwhile, struggles with fragmentation and a lack of resources, which need to be tackled to create a modern and efficient system able to provide quality health services to the whole population.

Peru has achieved significant progress in recent years in improving the health of its population. At the core of this has been an ongoing commitment from successive governments to reach universal health coverage (UHC). This, combined with steady economic growth, has translated into better access and financial protection in the health system, and contributed to better health outcomes. But the Peruvian health system still faces significant issues around fragmentation and lack of resources, which need to be tackled to create a modern and efficient system able to respond to the needs of the whole population. Added to this, epidemiological and demographic shifts, such as population ageing and the gradual increase of chronic disease, are a test to the efficiency and quality of health care provision in any high or middle-income country.

Peru has achieved significant gains in the health status of its population in recent years as its economy has expanded, although important gaps still exist compared to OECD countries. Peru is committed to extending effective health insurance coverage to all its citizens. At the same time, Peru faces challenges brought on by shifting demographic and epidemiological patterns as an ageing population with an increased burden of noncommunicable disease requires more and better health services.

Unlocking the value of health data to improve the accessibility, efficiency and quality of health services is dependent on information systems with the strength and capacity to deliver. This requires a strategic plan with clear objectives, strong processes and standards, underpinned by solid governance, privacy safeguards and sufficient investment. The more advanced and integrated an information system, the better use of data in decision making and planning.

Accurate, timely and comprehensive estimates of financing and spending on health care over time are vital for a clear understanding of resource allocations and drivers in the context of current planning strategies and future sustainability. Adherence to a standard international framework can serve both national policy requirements as well as benchmarking against countries in a regional and international setting.

The health care sector is heavily dependent on the skills and number of staff. Constituting the largest share of health service costs, human resource supply and planning has a significant impact on resource allocation. Many countries also struggle with an unequal geographical distribution of health professionals. Effective governance requires a standardised and comprehensive system to record information on human and physical resources.

Effective monitoring of health activities is needed to verify that resources are used efficiently and health interventions match stated priorities and goals. Ensuring adequate financing of the health system relies on the degree of activities being performed within the health care system. Activities are also a measure of health outputs, which in turn are used to measure outcomes. A thorough and nationally comparable record of activities enables policy makers to identify challenges and improve the quality and efficiency of a health system.

To expand universal health coverage beyond insurance and service coverage, and ensure that qualitative services are provided for all, Peru needs to monitor quality across providers and geographical areas. Peru is currently only able to report a few selected care quality indicators, and these typically cover only parts of the population. Comparing service quality across schemes and providers as well as any international comparison is therefore limited.