At a recent webinar hosted by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, global health experts gathered to discuss the critical role of health policy and systems research in advancing country-specific health priorities. The event, Aiming for impact: embedding health policy and systems research to advance country priorities, also marked the launch of the Alliance's new five-year strategy.
Strategic shifts
Kumanan Rasanathan, Executive Director of the Alliance, opened the webinar, emphasizing the goal of making health policy systems research more impactful in improving service delivery and health outcomes.
The new strategy, spanning from 2024 to 2028, aims to deepen engagement with country priorities, promote equity and enhance the utility of health policy and systems research globally. It was developed following extensive consultation with the health policy and systems research community.
Global leaders voice support
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, who now serves as Chair of the Alliance Board, praised the ambitions outlined in the new strategy. “Engaged research can help chart a course for health policy and systems,” she said, enabling the navigation of global, national and local challenges.
Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), echoed this sentiment. “Our challenge is ensuring that science is made available to the maximum number of people in the most equitable way, embedded within national government structures,” Farrar noted. He emphasized the importance of translating scientific research into practical policies that improve lives.
Panel discussion highlights
The event featured a robust panel discussion with prominent health leaders, including Rajani Ved, Director of Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in India; Keith Cloete, Head of the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness in South Africa; and Diah Saminarsih, CEO of cisdi in Indonesia.
Dr Ved shared an example of where health policy and systems research had transformative impact in India – in the case of the ASHA community health worker programme. “The evaluation results in 2010 changed the programme”, Ved noted. The findings underscored the importance of skilling up ASHAs and ensuring that they were serving as more than just links to the formal health system, which ultimately contributed to them playing an important role in India’s response to COVID-19.
Dr Cloete highlighted the importance of integrating health policy and systems research within the health system. “We created a community of practice that broke down the walls between policy-makers, researchers and implementers,” he said, noting the success of the journal club approach in fostering collaboration.
Dr Saminarsih discussed Indonesia’s challenges in primary health care and the need for a systems perspective. “Our approach has always been through health systems strengthening […] but there is a need for more research, more findings, more best practices,” she noted.
Looking forward
The Alliance’s new strategy identifies three primary shifts: strengthening and scaling up health impact, engaging comprehensively with country priorities, and building new partnerships within the global health architecture. The strategy also focuses on five priority areas: reforming health systems and services to achieve universal health coverage through a primary health care approach; improving health through digital transformation; preventing premature death and disability by tackling the risks and determinants of noncommunicable diseases; building health systems resilience and realizing co-benefits in response to the climate crisis; and applying a systems approach to health emergency preparedness and response.
While this strategy will guide the work of the Alliance, there was also a recognition that a small Secretariat based in Geneva could not achieve these aims alone – it’s about working together across the health policy and systems research community. Or, as Clark put it, “today is not only a chance for the Alliance to launch its new strategy; it’s also an invitation to all present to co-create a healthier future together.”