Strengthening Health Systems Through Research, Education,

and Action

Global Health Council Satellite SessionHealth System Strengthening: What is Everyone Doing?June 13, 2011

Professor Michael R. ReichHarvard School of Public Health

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1. Strengthening Health Systems Through Research

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

On all major topics of Health Systems, with a disciplinary focus on Political Economy:•Health Systems (Roberts, Hsiao, Berman, Bossert , Reich)•Health Financing (Hsiao, Yip, Berman)•Health Management & Human Resources (Roberts, Bossert, Bärnighausen, Berman)•Justice and Human Rights (Daniels and Gruskin)•Pharmaceutical Policy (Reich and Roberts)•Decentralization (Bossert)•HIV/AIDS (Bärnighausen)•Randomized Trials of Interventions (J. Cohen)

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2. Strengthening Health Systems Through Education

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

Many different levels of education:• Harvard-World Bank Institute Flagship Program on

Health System Strengthening• Doctoral Concentration on Health Systems at HSPH• MS/MPH training in Global Health at HSPH• Executive Education courses at HSPH (quality,

decentralization, human resources, strategic planning)• New Harvard Leadership Program for Ministers of

Health

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The Harvard-Flagship Health

Reform Approach

From: Marc J. Roberts, William Hsiao, Peter Berman, and Michael R. Reich: Getting Health Reform Right: A Guide to Improving Performance and Equity. Oxford University Press, New York, 2004, p. 27

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

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From: Marc Roberts, William Hsiao, Peter Berman, and Michael R. Reich: Getting Health Reform Right: A Guide to Improving Performance and Equity. Oxford University Press, New York, 2004, p. 27

The Harvard-Flagship Health

Reform Approach:

Core Concepts

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Doctoral Concentration in Health Systems

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

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3. Strengthening Health Systems Through Action

Collaboration with all major actors in the global health arena:• National governments: Support for public policy analysis,

including the design, implementation, and evaluation of major health reform efforts (China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico)

• International agencies: Analytical research, strategic planning, implementation research; including WHO, World Bank, UNFPA, UNAIDS, and UNICEF

• Non-governmental agencies: Applied research, advocacy planning, design of public-private partnerships

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

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3. Strengthening Health Systems Through Action

HSPH - HEALTH SYSTEMS

Illustrative examples:• Jessica Cohen: Co-founder of TAMTAM Africa, Inc (Together Against

Malaria), an NGO on malaria prevention among pregnant women• Bill Hsiao and Winnie Yip: Project enhancing TB control in a large scale

social experiment in rural China• Marc J. Roberts: Harvard Egypt Executive Management Program, to

improve management skills and practices in Egyptian Ministry of Health• Marc Mitchell: Founder of D-Tree, which uses smart-phone technology

to support point-of-care diagnosis and treatment• Norman Daniels: Improving priority setting (accountability for

reasonableness) in countries in Africa, Europe, and Latin America