Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (NDP), the country’s policy framework, which was published in 2009, includes health-related targets and strategies to improve the public health system to achieve National Outcome No.1 – A Healthy and Stable Population. This National Outcome is aligned to the targets and indicators for public health contained in the global 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 – Good Health and Well-being. The Vision 2030 NDP, together with Jamaica’s adaptation of the SDGs in 2015, provides the course of actions to improve Jamaica’s public health systems and put the country in a position to comply with the obligations under the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005. The aim is to implement systems as part of a global initiative to identify, report and respond to public health threats.

The unprecedented challenges of the Novel Coronavirus in 2019 (COVID-19) brought into focus, similarly for other countries, the limited ability of the institutional capacity of the country’s public health system to effectively respond to public health emergencies. We conducted a performance audit to assess the adequacy of Jamaica’s institutional capacity to withstand threats to the country’s health security from public health emergencies. Consistent with the WHO criteria, we defined the resilience of the public health system by the effectiveness of existing mechanisms to manage health emergencies, while delivering normal healthcare services. The audit therefore assessed the extent to which Jamaica’s institutional framework is progressing to enable a strong and resilient public health system. This was necessary given that the health-related targets of Vision 2030 NDP, the indicators of the SDGs, and the requirements of the IHR (2005), outline how the country should enable its institutional capacity to detect and respond to national and global health risks.

The audit reviewed and assessed the process in achieving the health-related objectives outlined in Vision 2030 NDP, to build resilience in the public health system. Part One introduces the study topic, whilst parts two, three and four contain the audit findings. Part Two includes findings on the legal and policy framework to enable a strong and resilient public health system. Part Three focuses on coordination to implement the strategies for improving healthcare institutional capacity to respond to public health emergencies, while Part Four addresses efforts to identify resource gaps and establishing a financing strategy.