Health systems strengthening explained

Health systems strengthening (also health system strengthening, abbreviated HSS) is a term used in global health that roughly means to improve the health care system of a country.^[1] Within this general definition, it can mean increasing funding for health infrastructure, improving health policy, trying to achieve universal healthcare,^[2] or any number of other health measures.

There has been some effort to use a systems thinking approach to health systems strengthening.^{[3] [4]}

Organizations that use health systems strengthening

Various health organizations have claimed to use health systems strengthening (while not necessarily agreeing on the definition). Some of these are:

• World Health Organization
• US Agency for International Development (USAID, uses different definition from the one in a 2006 Global Fund-commissioned WHO report); USAID states that HSS has been "at the core of [its] mission in health for the last 20 years", and defines HSS as "initiating activities in the six internationally accepted core HSS functions – human resources for health; health finance; health governance; health information; medical products, vaccines, and technologies; and service delivery".^[5]
• GAVI Alliance
• The Global Fund
• PEPFAR (though less developed)
• Stop TB Partnership (uses different definition from the one in a 2006 Global Fund-commissioned WHO report)
• Roll Back Malaria (uses different definition from the one in a 2006 Global Fund-commissioned WHO report)

Reception

Both the idea of health systems strengthening and the term itself have received attention.

Even advocates of health systems strengthening admit that it can often seem like a "distant, even abstract aim".^[4]

Marchal et al., writing in 2009, called the term "vague" and argued that "most current HSS strategies are selective (i.e., they target a specific disease), and their effects may undermine progress towards the long-term goal of effective, high-quality, and inclusive health systems."^{[6] [7]}

Peter Berman, who was the lead health economist at the World Bank, has pointed out that "Almost any support to health interventions can be considered HSS".^[8]

See also

• Timeline of global health
• Health system § Health systems performance

Notes and References

1. Web site: Health Systems Strengthening Glossary . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010183816/http://www.who.int/healthsystems/hss_glossary/en/index5.html . dead . October 10, 2011 . June 14, 2016 . World Health Organization.
2. Web site: Conversation with Amanda Glassman on August 27, 2013 . June 14, 2016 . Glassman . Amanda . GiveWell.
3. Web site: New Perspectives in Health Systems Strengthening. USAID .
4. Web site: Systems Thinking for Health Systems Strengthening . World Health Organization . 2009.
5. Web site: USAID's Vision for Health Systems Strengthening . USAID . June 14, 2016.
6. Global Health Actors Claim To Support Health System Strengthening—Is This Reality or Rhetoric? . Marchal B, Cavalli A, Kegels G . April 28, 2009 . PLOS Medicine. 6 . 4 . e1000059 . 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000059 . 19399158 . 2667637 . free .
7. Web site: Are health system strengthening efforts just hype? . April 29, 2009 . Karen Grepin . June 14, 2016.
8. Web site: Unpacking Health System Strengthening . Peter Berman . June 2009 . World Bank . June 14, 2016.