The Ministry of Health, in partnership with WHO, conveyed HSSDPIII Consultation with 5 Zobas (Maekel, Anseba, Gash Barka, Northern Red Sea, and Debub), in Asmara on the 6th of July 2021. The consultative meeting was opened by Dr Berhane Debru, Acting Director General for Human Resources Development, Policy and Planning. Dr Berhane called on participants to fully engage in the consultation and emphasized the importance of the workshop, as part of the HSSDPIII development.
 
The participants noted improvement in essential health outcomes, including a 6.7% point increase in Universal Health Coverage (UHC) during the implementation of the HSSDPII. These have been mainly attributed by Reproductive health such as expansion of maternity waiting homes, and Communicable diseases performance. 

Some of the challenges identified included implementation of cross-cutting issues, which are categorized under health determinants. The participants noted the need for sound multi-sectorial engagement, service availability and coverage, data and information generation and use, with emphasis on community death and cause of death, and specialized human resources strengthening.
 
Consensus was reached on the HSSDPIII priorities, captured under two focus areas; Modernization of medical services and Expansion of resilient and comprehensive public health services. These cover strategic priorities under the thematic areas of UHC, Health security, Health determinants and health systems functionality. The consultative process resulted in full ownership of Zobas and consensus of priorities for HSSDPIII solidified.