Health Systems 101

As we’ve commented upon many times in this blog, the exploding interest in health systems strengthening (HSS) has spread to many global institutions. The IHP+ and the High-Level Task Force on Innovative Financing for Health both aim to strengthen health systems through MDGs 4 and 5. The World Bank, the Global Fund and GAVI are creating a joint health systems strengthening platform, and WHO is ramping up its activities on HSS, particularly on health worker issues. Targeted interventions are being delivered through health systems programming, such as USAIDs Health Systems 20/20.

What is HSS and how does it occur? Most importantly, how will it be measured? Questions abound, and answers do too – especially here in Washington where the Obama Administration says that HSS will be central to its new Global Health Initiative. As the big thinking continues about what that means, some folks in both developed and developing countries might benefit from a tutorial on HSS put together by some expert observers.

David Bishai at Johns Hopkins University and the Health Systems Board, an independent group formed to look at what different organizations are doing to strengthen health systems, have produced a course curriculum to unwrap the mysteries of health systems. It is a 10-unit short course sponsored by Future Health Systems, a group funded by the UK Department for International Development. Topics are:

1. The Building Blocks of Health Systems
2. Agents, Units, Institutions
3. Service Delivery
4. Health Workforce
5. Quality and Governance
6. Financing 1
7. Financing 2
8. Supply chain
9. Information Systems
10. The Role of Households in Health Systems

The free on-line course is targeted at mid level managers working in the health sector of LMICs, but is of wide interest to other global health thinkers and talkers (not mutually exclusive). Visit this link to access the material.