“We know what works – the need is to address the gap that exists in implementation and scale-up of life-saving interventions, and health systems research is key to achieving this objective.” - Dr Etienne Langlois (Alliance)
The Alliance highlighted the role of health systems research in scaling-up life-saving interventions at a session on Postnatal Care: Reaching Newborn Infants and Mothers with Preventative and Curative Care at the first Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference, held 18-21 October in Mexico City.
Strategies for reaching every woman and newborn with high-quality health care and approaches to end preventable maternal and newborn mortality and still births were shared in the afternoon session moderated by Kim Dickson from UNICEF. In the session, Dr Etienne Langlois (Alliance) emphasized the role of policy-relevant research in strengthening health systems. “Many proven-effective strategies are being discussed today, but what is also needed is timely and relevant research to identify the barriers of implementation and scale-up.”
The meeting drew 1000 policymakers, research, practitioners and advocates from 75 countries and marked the first opportunity for maternal and newborn health communities to strategize on actions needed to achieve the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information, contact Etienne Langlois (langloise@who.int)