A health system consists of all organizations, people, and actions whose primary intent is to market , restore, or maintain health. This includes efforts to influence determinants of health also as more direct health-improving activities.

It is therefore more than the pyramid of publicly owned facilities that deliver personal health services. It includes, for instance , a mother caring for a sick child at home; private providers; behavior change programs; vector-control campaigns; insurance organizations; and occupational health and safety legislation. It includes inter-sectoral action by health staff, for instance, encouraging the ministry of education to market female education, a well-known determinant of better health.