Designup

Category: Asia Pacific

  • Webinar: Integrating gender into health system strengthening in conflict and crisis-affected settings; what’s in our toolkit?

    This webinar took place on June 22, 2018. However, if you missed the webinar or would like to listen to it again, you can watch the recording and download the slides.

    In 2016, HSG held the first webinar on gender, asking the question, “What part should gender play in reconstructing post-conflict health systems?” Two years on and much has changed. There is a growing interest in applying gender frameworks and analysis in health systems research. The #metoo movement and other popular feminist actions have driven greater attention to gender equity. New conflicts and health crises have arisen in various settings prompting humanitarian emergency responses.

    This webinar does not seek to make the argument that we should focus on gender in post-conflict health systems. We feel that argument has been settled. Rather we describe how the process of focusing on gender has unfolded in different settings and share a range of tools that interested researchers, policymakers and practitioners could use and adapt to stimulate progress towards gender equity.

    We also want to hear from you. What challenges are you facing in taking forward this agenda? How can our global community of health systems researchers help in constructing the kind of evidence base that would guide good decision makers and facilitate best practice? Help us to shape the presentations by completing this short survey. It takes about three minutes.

    Panelists

    Introduction and survey results – Egbert Sondorp, the Thematic Working Group on Health Systems in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States

    An overview of useful tools and approaches – Val Percival and Amber Warnat, Carleton University

    Country case studies – Justine Namakula (School of Public Health, Makerere University, Uganda), Haja Wurie (College of Medicine and Applied Health Sciences, Sierra Leone)

    The webinar is sponsored by RinGs, the ReBUILD Research Programme Consortium, and the Building Back Better project. It will be facilitated by Health Systems Global.

     

    Curatio International Foundation hosts Health Systems Global Secretariat. Health Systems Global (HSG) is the first international membership organization fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and related knowledge translation. HSG brings together researchers, policy-makers, funders, implementers, civil society and other stakeholders from all over the world. Around 1900 HSG members work together to create, share and apply knowledge necessary for strengthening health systems globally.

    Check the announcement on HSG website.

  • Hosting Health Systems Global Secretariat

    Introduction and Overview

    Health Systems Global (HSG) is the first international membership organization fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and knowledge translation.

    Starting from March 1st, 2015 Curatio International Foundation hosts the HSG secretariat, which was previously housed in the Center for Health and Infectious Disease Research at the University of Copenhagen.

    Dr. George Gotsadze, Director and President of Curatio International Foundation assumed the role of the Executive Director of Health Systems Global. He leads secretariat together with the communications team from  Institute of Development Study (Brighton, UK) and strives for the HSG to become a stronger society.

    CIF will hand over secretariat management to another LMIC country in 2020.

    HSG Financial Supporters Since 2015 

    Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research

    Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

    Canadian Institute for Health Research

    China Medical Board

    Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

    Global Affairs Canada

    Global Ideas Fund at CAF America

    International Development Research Centre, Canada

    Rockefeller Foundation

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

    Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

    USAID

    Wellcome Trust

    Project Objectives and Contributions

    To connect health systems research and policy communities globally to contribute to the attainment of better health, equity, and well-being.

    About the Global Symposia

    Health Systems Global organizes a symposium every two years to bring together its members with the full range of players involved in health systems and policy research. There is currently no other international gathering that serves the needs of this community.

    The venue chosen for each meeting facilitates inclusion of participants from a specific part of the world and a focus on that region, although each is a global meeting in terms of content and representation. Each symposium is determined to:

    • Share new state-of-the-art evidence;
    • Review the progress and challenges towards implementation of the global agenda of priority research;
    • Identify and discuss the approaches to strengthen the scientific rigour of health systems research including concepts, frameworks, measures, and methods;
    • Facilitate greater research collaboration and learning communities across disciplines, sectors, initiatives, and countries.

    Previous global symposia were held in Montreux, 2010, Beijing 2012, Cape Town 2014, Vancouver 2016 and the fifth one will take place in Liverpool during October 8-12, 2018 and is expected to bring together around 3000 global participants.

    Detailed information about the 5th global symposium on the Health Systems Research is available on the website.

  • Webinar on The peer review process – what happens when you send your manuscript to a journal

    This webinar took place on April 23, 2018. However, if you missed the session or want to listen to it again, you can watch the recording.

    Have you ever wondered what the journal editor’s viewpoint is on your article, or what happens once you send your manuscript to a journal? This webinar will provide an overview of the peer review process with advice for authors on how to engage constructively with comments from editors and reviewers, and what to do when you disagree.

    As part of a series of webinars jointly organized by HSG and Biomed Central exploring various aspects of publishing and the peer review process, this webinar will particularly focus on:

    • What happens during the peer review process

    • Models of peer review, why you should care

    • What Editors and reviewers are looking for

    • How decisions are made

    • How to respond to reviewers’ and editors’ comments

    • Dealing with rejection

    Curatio International Foundation hosts Health Systems Global Secretariat. Health Systems Global (HSG) is the first international membership organization fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and related knowledge translation. HSG brings together researchers, policy-makers, funders, implementers, civil society and other stakeholders from all over the world. Around 1900 HSG members work together to create, share and apply knowledge necessary for strengthening health systems globally.

  • Webinar on Improving Quality of Care during Childbirth: Learnings and Next Steps from the BetterBirth Trial

    This webinar took place on April 24, 2018. However, if you missed the session or want to listen to it again, you can watch the recording.

    Join the webinar organized by HSG Thematic Working Group Quality in Universal Health and Healthcare. During this webinar, Katherine Semaru will discuss the lessons learned from the BetterBirth trial towards the increase of quality of maternal and newborn care, and the work still needed to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.

    The Ariadne Labs’ BetterBirth Program has been focused on developing, implementing, and testing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Safe Childbirth Checklist globally. In 2014, after a successful pilot of the Checklist in southern India, the BetterBirth study was initiated in Uttar Pradesh, India, at primary and community health centers. The study measured the effectiveness of the BetterBirth Program on the uptake of essential birth practices by birth attendants and on early neonatal mortality, maternal mortality, and maternal morbidity. With follow up data on over 300,000 mothers and infants, the BetterBirth trial is one of the largest maternal health trials ever conducted.

    About the speaker

    Image title

    Katherine Semrau, PhD, MPH, is director of the BetterBirth Program at Ariadne Labs. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Epidemiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Division of Global Health Equity.She led a large randomized controlled trial of a coaching-based intervention to increase use and adherence to the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist.

    Curatio International Foundation Hosts Health Systems Global Secretariat. Health Systems Global (HSG) is the first international membership organization fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and related knowledge translation. HSG brings together researchers, policy-makers, funders, implementers, civil society and other stakeholders from all over the world. Around 1900 HSG members work together to create, share and apply knowledge necessary for strengthening health systems globally.

  • Assessing impact of donor co-financing and transition policies on TB Commodity Procurement

    Introduction and Overview

    Curatio International Foundation recently started implementation of the project entitled: Assessing impact of donor co-financing and transition policies on TB Commodity Procurement. The project is financially supported by Stop TB partnership and UNOPS, initiated by Global Drug Facility (GDF).

    The assignment will last 10 months and aims to assess positive and negative implications of The Global Fund’s (TGF) Sustainability, Transition and Co-Financing Policy (STCP) that may have on TB commodity procurement practices on a country level in EECA region.

    Based on the goal of the assignment the project has the following objectives:

    • Develop a methodological approach necessary for systematically documenting and assessing challenges and opportunities related to the TB commodity procurement practices arising from TGF’s STCP;
    • Using the methodological approach and standard tools, systematically assess and document experiences related to TB commodity procurement practices during and after the transition in the countries that have graduated from TGF support or are already implementing STCP and paying for parts of TB commodity purchase.
    Expected Results

    After the successful completion of the project scientific article describing the key findings from the all assessed EECA region countries will be published in peer reviewed international journal.

    The project findings will support countries to be aware of existing gaps and take appropriate actions for change.

  • Article: Privilege and inclusivity in shaping Global Health agendas

    Health Policy and Planning published an article Privilege and inclusivity in shaping Global Health agendas.  CIF director George Gotsadze co-authors the paper together with Kabir Sheikh, Sara Bennett and Fadi el Jardali.

    The article discusses lack of inclusivity in Global Health and possible actions to promote inclusivity and diversity in the field.

    “Northern voices dominate Global Health discussions. Of recent Lancet Commissions, excluding representatives from international organizations, 70% of commissioners on the Women and Health commission came from the global North, and likewise, 71% of the Health and Climate Change commission, 72% of the Global Surgery commission and 73% of the Global Health commission (Lancet 2016). Only two out of the 16-member Board of Directors of the Consortium of Universities of Global Health come from the global South (CUGH 2016). No current or past president and only one current member of the World Health Summit’s scientific committee is from the global South (WHS 2016). Only one of the 17 advisory board members of the journal Global Health Governance is based in a low/middle income country (LMIC) institution (GHG 2016).

    Only 15% of the world’s population lives in high-income countries. Yet Global Health conferences continue to be dominated by invited Northern speakers and important committees on Global Health composed mainly of Northerners. The words of a few from the global North wield a disproportionate power that carries …”

    The full text is downloadable here.

  • Final Evaluation of Gavi’s Support to Albania

    After the conclusion of Gavi’s support period (2014) to the Albania, Curatio International Foundation conducted the evaluation study and assessed financial and programmatic sustainability through an in-depth analysis of Albania’s experiences and immunization programme performance before, during and after the conclusion of Gavi’s support period to the country.

    The evaluation also identified factors contributing to the sustainability of these programs and their achievements. The evaluation considered the types and quality of support received and the way in which Gavi’s support to Albania was considered.

    Main Findings:
    • The coordination mechanism between partners  established at the time of Gavi support continues to operate, although the frequency of the meetings has decreased
    • All Gavi supported activities have been continued : The Hep B and pentavalent vaccines and Auto-Disable (AD) syringes are fully financed by the Government, and are safeguarded in the MoH budget
    • Stable and high immunization coverage rates (> 95%) for all antigens included in the national immunization schedule have been sustained as of today at the national and district levels
    • Achievements in safe injection have been sustained in Albania
    • After Gavi support ended, Albania has continued to introduce new vaccines
    • The budget planning mechanism used for vaccine procurement during the Gavi support period has been maintained and institutionalized
    • The use of the UNICEF procurement mechanism for purchasing all vaccines in the immunization schedule has been sustained.

    The full report of the evaluation is now available on the GAVI’s website, please visit the page for more information.

  • Washington DC hosts workshop Immunization Costing: what have we learned, can we do better?

    On May 17-18 EPIC Immunization Costing hosts workshop Immunization Costing: what have we learned, can we do better? in Washington DC.  CIF executive director George Gotsadze and Business Develop
    ment unit director Ketevan Goguadze are invited to attend the event.

    George Gotsadze will be one of the panelist in the panel discussion: Sustainable institutional linkage and improving immunization program implementation, taking place on May 18 in frame of the workshop.

    About the event: EPIC supports a community of practice comprised of researchers and practitioners concerned with measuring immunization program cost and financial flow – and utilizing such information to improve program operations and mobilize resources.

    A 300 members’ community from more than 50 organizations are involved in immunization programs across the globe, exchanging information and enabling new approaches, collect and use cost information to improve vaccine delivery.

    The workshop is sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and organized by Harvard School of Public Health.

  • Contributing to publishing the paper: Circus monkeys or change agents? Civil society advocacy for HIV/AIDS in adverse policy environments

    Curatio International Foundation has contributed to publishing the paper that explores the factors enabling and undermining civil society efforts to advocate for policy reforms relating to HIV/AIDS and illicit drugs in three countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The paper was published on the world’s leading scientific papers’ source Sciencedirect.com in the rubrics: Social Science and Medicine.

    The paper looks at political contexts and explores how the civil society actors’ strengths and weaknesses inhibit or enable advocacy for policy change – issues that are not well understood in relation to specific policy areas such as HIV/AIDS, or particular regions of the world where national policies are believed to be major drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The study is based on in-depth interviews with representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) (n = 49) and national level informants including government and development partners (n = 22).

    Development partners and government tend to construct CSOs as service providers rather than advocates. While some advocacy was tolerated by governments, CSO participation in the policy process was, ultimately, perceived to be tokenistic. This was because there are financial interests in maintaining prohibitionist legislation: efforts to change punitive laws directed at the behaviors of minority groups such as injecting drug users have had limited impact.

    Read the full paper online or download PDF.

  • New web guide for using qualitative approaches to health systems research

    By the end of summer 2011 Curatio International Foundation and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) developed the web resource which serves as a guideline for qualitative approaches in researching the health systems.

    Information of the web site is based on the experience of the study “Exploring providers’ and patients’ perspectives on barriers to quality of care for chronic heart failure (CHF) “. The study, in its turn, is a part of a project that explores transferability of qualitative principles (those for group and individual interviews) to low income former Soviet countries by conducting qualitative studies in Uzbekistan and Georgia. In the framework of the project CIF has conducted and analyzed findings of the qualitative research focusing on patients with heart chronic diseases and primary health care providers.

    In the framework of the project CIF has conducted and analyzed findings of the qualitative research focusing on patients with heart chronic diseases and primary health care providers.

    The project aims to develop understanding of how qualitative methodologies can be developed for use in low/middle income countries, and how they can be developed for use in comparative health systems research. The proposed study therefore includes two countries in a comparative case study design. Each case study will use qualitative methods (individual interviews and group discussions) to explore a topic in quality of care that is of interest to both health care systems. The interviews will be used to explore physician and patient perspectives on barriers for quality care in the treatment of chronic heart failure in primary care settings.

    Web-based learning modules on qualitative methods of data collection for health services research in central Asia and the former Soviet Union have been developed as a part of the project. The learning outcomes for the module are designed around the specific elements of this study. The module is planned to be incorporated into teaching at the School of Public Health in Uzbekistan, LSHTM and is openly accessible on the web to interested parties.

    The project is funded by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR).

     

    Follow the link to view the web site.