Health Leaders Launch Global Network

Health system leaders from around the world have agreed to launch a Health System Action Network (HSAN) to increase understanding of the importance of strengthening health systems to achieve urgent health priorities.

HSAN will share important information and best practices across countries by linking health systems leaders through a global network in order to better influence global and donor initiatives to recognize the role of health systems and how they are linked to country priorities.

At a two-day meeting held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 18-19, 31 policymakers, clinicians, economists, human resource professionals, pharmacists, and journalists met to discuss health systems-strengthening needs not being met by other initiatives. The participants were selected through a highly competitive international process from 400 applicants by a consortium of organizations facilitated by Partners for Health Reformplus (PHRplus), a project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by Abt Associates Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Participants came from Bangladesh, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, and Uganda, and represented the public and private sectors, academia, civil society, and the media. They were selected for their vision, the quality of their ideas, and their potential to champion the development of the network.

The group concluded that there is no current platform for developing countries' health system stakeholders to influence and provide input into the priorities and practices of global health initiatives.

"Coordination across the spectrum is needed now more than ever," said a founding member of the network. "We need information on what works to strengthen health systems, technical resources to support country-level efforts, and opportunities to share and learn with others grappling with similar challenges. HSAN will be a global network that will fill these gaps."

Participants agree that HSAN will be a leading global network facilitating the development of equitable, accountable, and sustainable health systems for improved health outcomes. In its first two years, HSAN plans to educate stakeholders, advocate for investing in strong health systems, enhance access to information about what works, link together country-based health systems leaders across the globe, and develop a system to measure, track, and compare countries' progress toward strengthening their health systems. A steering committee was formed and a plan of action determined to carry forward the vision of HSAN.

The need to focus on health systems strengthening was identified at a World Health Organization (WHO)-led meeting of donors and advocates in Montreux, Switzerland, in 2005. Since this time, the USAID, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Canadian International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDA) have been working together to help HSAN emerge. The call for action to strengthen health systems was echoed in the 16th International AIDS Conference meeting preceding the HSAN session at which Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and other global leaders clearly identified weak health systems as an overriding constraint to realizing the goals of HIV/AIDS and other global health initiatives.

To further define the vision and objectives of HSAN, USAID had earlier funded a consultative process with stakeholders including donors, advocates, technical experts, and developing country public and private sector representatives. The results of the initial process emphasized the need for a global network focused on health systems that would be grounded at the country level. The recent meeting in Toronto took the next step required to refine the vision and mission of HSAN by bringing together the likely beneficiaries and potential members of the network from developing countries to define priorities and assume leadership to make HSAN a reality.

PHRplus is USAID's flagship health systems reform project. Abt Associates has led this project and its two predecessor projects for more than 17 years.

For more information visit www.usaid.gov or www.abtassociates.com

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