Health systems strengthening: what role for Global Health initiatives?

The Lancet has just launched a report which is the result of more than a year of analysis and research on the interaction between the Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) of this world and health systems in developing countries. A lot of health policy actors from rich and low-income countries are gathered in Venice to discuss the conclusions of the report and try to find ways to improve the way we do things.

The usual, sometimes simplistic, discussions that pitch ‘vertical’ disease-specific interventions against ‘horizontal’ health systems approaches is being de-bunked today, and it’s about time. We are slowly recognising that the arguments can’t be black and white, that GHIs have had good and bad impacts, and that since we are all trying to achieve better health for populations in low-income countries, we should learn to work together.

Today is hopefully the start of this dialogue. For full details on the report, check this link: http://www.who.int/healthsystems/GHIsynergies/en/index.html

More soon

Nouria