ALLIANCE for HEALTH POLICY and SYSTEMS RESEARCH Advocating for Health Policy and Systems Ministerial Summit for Health Research and Forum 8, November 2004

ALLIANCE Editorial FOR he Alliance has been working hard Review will provide a rationale for Ton its new flagship publication, HPSR by considering the role it can the Biennial Review of Health Policy play in strengthening policy and deci- HEALTH and Systems Research, while contin- sion-making. The historical assess- uing to support research and capac- ment of our field will highlight the ity strengthening in key areas. In this fact that, in spite of significant issue we announce the grantees in the growth, large gaps in our under- third Research to Policy grants "Inte- standing of health systems, policies POLICY grating and Scaling Up Priority Health and interventions persist. Examples Services" and present the positive of how HPSR has influenced policy outcome of the call for Young and practice will be highlighted as an Researchers. The Alliance is also effort to advocate for greater demand, AND collaborating with WHO and the funding and utilization. The mecha- Global Forum for Health Research in nisms and processes whereby HPSR the preparations for the Ministerial is or can be brought to bear on policy Summit on Health Research, to be will be reviewed with examples from SYSTEMS held in Mexico in November of this diverse countries and situations. year. The Biennial Review will be Special attention will be given to the launched at this meeting and there role of bilateral and multilateral insti- are indications that HPSR will be a key tutions in the demand for and utiliza- RESEARCH topic. With the support of Alliance tion of research. partners we are hoping to make a significant contribution to the iden- Using bibliometric techniques, tification of research priorities. HPSR literature trends in the last ten NEWSLETTER years will be analysed and research Progress with the Biennial gaps and imbalances will be identified. No. 9 O March 2004 Review of HPSR The state-of-the-art of research in specific areas will be reviewed, to A team of chapter co-ordinators include the expansion of private serv- and contributors has been assembled ices, decentralization, social insurance, and two consultations have been user fees, community health insur- undertaken to prepare the launch of ance, management reforms and this important product at the Minis- accountability. With the support of a terial Summit on Health Research. survey, the Review will also identify During Forum 7, held in Geneva last research priorities held by developing November, preliminary findings were country research producer institutions, presented and the final outline for the together with their actual project port- publication was developed. The folio and their research capacity. O CONTENTS Advocating For Health Policy and Systems 2 Forum 7: What can Policy Reserach Contribuate to Better Health? 2&3 Scaling-Up Priority Health Services 4 Priority Setting 5, 6 & 7 New Impact of Research on Policy Area On the Alliance Website 7 & 8

The alliance on health policy on system research Researchers and policy makers launching the Alliance-IDRC Governance, Equity and Health 8 initiative for Southern and Eastern Africa. Entebbe, Uganda, November 2003 2 NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH Advocating For Health Policy and Systems Ministerial Summit for Health Research and Forum 8, November 2004

HO is organizing the Minister- advocate for major funding in this ities among producer institutions in Wial Summit on Health Research, area. The Alliance for Health Policy developing countries, for which a to be held in Mexico City, 16 to 20 and Systems Research will launch the survey was launched covering over November, 2004. The Summit will be first issue of its flagship publication, 1300 institutions. O held back to back with the Global the Biennial HPSR Review, identifying Forum's Forum 8. The main theme for policy and system issues, interfaces both meetings will be the role of with research, developments in our Alliance partners are encouraged health research in achieving the Mille- field as well as the state-of-the-art in to attend Forum 8 and to follow nium Development Goals. selected fields and capacity strength- the developments of the Minis- ening needs. We will be supporting the terial Summit. We will notify you Health policy and systems research participation of Alliance partners in of the website address for further will have a prominent role in the the research-policy making interface information as soon as it is avail- context of scaling up of efforts against and we would like to hear of your able. Partners in the HPSR-policy major diseases and child and mater- interest in attending the meeting. making interface will be nal mortality. To this end, WHO supported by the Alliance to recently established a task force to The Alliance is also collaborating attend Forum 8. identify HPSR priorities as an effort to in the identification of research prior-

Forum 7 What can policy research contribute to better health?

he urgency of efforts to address reflect in large part our inability to T specific health challenges often fully and effectively deploy existing appear to compete with long-term technologies. For example, oral development of financially and rehydration therapy has been avail- organizationally viable health able at low cost for more than three systems. But this need not be the decades, but more than 2 million case: solving the major health prob- children still die each year of diar- lems of our time, in fact, requires rheal disease. Despite rapid attention to getting health systems progress in understanding of the to work, and work over the long proximate cause of infection, devel- haul. Health systems development, opment of low-cost diagnostic tech- in turn, depends on a sound under- nologies, and the much-reduced standing of central policy questions. cost of anti-retroviral therapy, AIDS This was the message of Nancy Bird- prevention efforts have a disap- sall, President of the Center for pointing track record and ART bene- Global Development and pioneer- fits only 50,000 of the millions ing development economist, during requiring treatment in sub-Saharan her keynote address to Forum 7 in Africa. With respect to chronic tobacco projected to account for Geneva on December 4, 2003. disease, information and testing that twice as many deaths in 2020 as it ought to change behavior and does today. According to Birdsall, much reduce the incidence of chronic attention is given to the promise of disease is cheap to disseminate. Yet technologies on the horizon, but the smoking prevalence continues to The reasons for our collective fail- challenges that bear down on us rise in most poor countries, and ure to achieve optimal health NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH 3

outcomes, despite the existence of good technologies, lies in chronic PRN Core Institutions problems in health systems, including (but not limited to) weak gover- Center for Global Development nance and management; political Centre for Health Policy, University of Witwatersrand and financial pressures that pull Chulalongkorn University public resources into higher-level Columbia University curative care; and financial and FUNSALUD organization barriers to access for Institute for Economic Growth those most in need. Institute of Policy Studies Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Just as targeted research is recog- London School of Economics nized as the cornerstone of future London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine technologies, Birdsall argued, well- Rand oriented policy research can lead the Stanford University way toward solving some of these critical systemic problems. There is University of Toronto a broad agenda for useful policy Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania research in global health, she said, and one way to organize it is around and developing country govern- Center for Global Development, an the problems to solve. ments expand AIDS programs. independent, nonprofit research institute headed by Birdsall that focuses on how the policies of the For example, in the case of A third contemporary challenge preventable infectious diseases, the US and other rich countries affect – preventing chronic disease – issue now is how to “scale-up” (to the prospects for development in requires changing behaviors of larger and poorer populations poor countries. Supported by the patients and providers, as well as within the same country) and “scale- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, affecting the practices of tobacco, over” (to other countries) the combi- the network brings together leading food and other industries. Health nation of managerial and experts in public health, economics systems in developing countries organizational factors that have and other social science and tech- heavily committed to delivering worked in some poor countries to nical fields to develop original, curative health care must adapt to make the most of existing tech- focused research on high-priority the new demands of public educa- nologies and interventions. System- global health policy issues. tion campaigns to change behavior atic study of the problems of and accompanying regulatory patronage and petty corruption in arrangements. The network currently includes the health system, staff absenteeism, 14 universities and research institu- lack of incentives for dispersed tions from eight countries (see box), health workers, problems with Prevention and management of encompassing approximately 80 procurement and distribution of chronic diseases also requires that researchers. The institutional medicines – research that exploits both public and private health serv- members contribute to setting the variation in civil service systems, ices work reasonably well and not research priorities and prepare pay scales, role of the private sector create unreasonable financial risks, commissioned papers. In addition, and so on – will generate ideas about especially for the poor. Diabetes, the PRN currently has two active how to effectively address problems cancer, heart disease, mental illness working groups. The first, the “What where they exist. all require predictable interactions Works?” Working Group, will publish between health care providers and a report in a few months that docu- patients, and availability at reason- In the case of the challenge of the ments 20 large-scale, sustained, high able cost to patients of critical medi- AIDS pandemic, there is a pressing impact “successes” in global health. cines. We need to better understand need to learn about health system The “Pull Mechanisms” Working the relative effectiveness and costs behavior. Is delivery of antiretrovi- Group has developed a proposal for of various financing and manage- the basic parameters of a contrac- rals and treatment for opportunis- ment approaches to provision of tual arrangement that would seek to tic infections contributing to an health insurance in poor countries. induce greater private investment overall strengthening of the health in R&D by reducing some of the system? Or are the financial and market risks for a future vaccine other demands weakening other These issues and others are the product. parts of the system? These ques- focus of the work of the Global tions can be studied now, and can Health Policy Research Network be the basis for on-going policy (PRN), which was launched in Janu- For more information about the research as international agencies ary 2003 under the leadership of the PRN, see www.cgdev.org. O 4 NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH

RESEARCH TO POLICY GRANTS Scaling-Up Priority Health Services

The Alliance announced the awards for the latest Research to Policy Grants in Issue No. 8. Table 1 presents the winning proposals in this high priority area. Funding averaged US$ 21,200 and results are expected for Spring 2005. PI Institution Title Country e-mail Jean-Claude Health of Population in Transition A survey of the prevention and control of Cameroon [email protected] MBANYA (HoPiT) Research Group hypertension and its risk factors in an Urban Health District in Cameroon Changhai Centre of Health Management Constrains to scaling up quality sexual China PR [email protected] YUAN and Policy Research, transmitted disease service by rural patients and Shandong University overcoming measures Mauka Department of Epidemiology Challenges confronting public health system Georgia [email protected] DJIBUTI and Public Health, in Georgia - a focus on human resource State Medical Academy development Rajesh Medical College and Impact of Orientation to IMCI Algorithm on India [email protected] MEHTA Safdarjang Hospital Childcare Practices of Private Practitioners in Delhi TIN-OO Parasitology Research Division, Intensifying health promotion in malaria: Myanmar [email protected] Department of Medical options for social movement in endemic areas Research of Myanmar Elvis College of Medicine, Scaling up of intermittent preventive treatment Nigeria [email protected] SHU University of Nigeria of malaria in pregnancy in Southeast Nigeria: Biomedical and policy assessment. Miguel Group of Analysis for Assessing non-economic barriers in access to Peru [email protected] JARAMILLO Development health services among Peruvian mothers and infants. Magdalena Research Institute for Mindanao Priority Disease Control Programmes: Philippines [email protected] CABARABAN Culture, Xavier University Who Decides? Who Implements? Who Benefits? Thandi School of Public Health, Improving the quality of care of severely South Africa [email protected] PUOANE University of the Western malnourished children in rural district hospitals Cape in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa Edina Department of Public Health Scaling up different public-private partnership South Africa [email protected] SINANOVIC and Family Medicine, models of TB intervention in South Africa University of Cape Town Daudi College of Health Sciences, A study on the impact of scaling up PMTCT on Tanzania [email protected] SIMBA Muhimbili University the magnitude of health staff workload in Tanzanian health facilities. A cross-sectional descriptive study Kittikorn Faculty of Nursing, Prince Managing system for better HIV/AIDS home Thailand [email protected] NILMANAT of Songkla University care: A case study of HIV/AIDS home care services in Southern Thailand Richard Faculty of Medicine, Makerere Enhancing implementation of the prevention of Uganda [email protected] Odoi ADOME University malaria in pregnancy strategy in private sector healthcare in Uganda in a decentralised environment Sam Health Policy Analysis Unit, An assessment of the effectiveness of Health Uganda [email protected] OKUONZI Ministry of Health Policy Development and Implementation in Uganda. Godfrey Department of Community Barriers and facilitators affecting the controlled Zimbabwe [email protected] WOELK Medicine, University of trials into health care policy and practice in low Zimbabwe and middle-income countries. Eric Health Research Unit, Priority setting in developing country healthcare Ghana, India & [email protected] AMUAH Ghana Health Service institutions: capturing and sharing experiences South Africa Freckson The Zimbabwe Association of Baseline information on scaling up access to Zimbabwe [email protected] ROPI Church-Related Hospitals Antiretroviral Therapy in mission hospitals in Zimbabwe NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH 5 Priority Setting A framework to understand and develop the health policy and systems research portfolio and priorities

nternational agencies and countries studied. Before priorities can be iden- With regard to funding, there is a Ihave made a qualitative leap in the tified, it is important to be able to need to consider not only investments, funding of activities addressing global agree on what is studied through an but also funding sources and mecha- disease challenges. The Global Fund analysis of the dimensions that char- nisms. Four broad types of sources can to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is plan- acterize the object of research. be recognized: bilateral and multilat- ning to increase its spending from Furthermore, it is important to estab- eral donors, governments, private US$1.6 billion to US$ $3.6 billion in lish the distinction between the object sector, and funding through resources 2005. The United States Government of the research and the factors shap- available to research institutions as will be spending up to US$ 2.7 billion ing this choice at various levels. part of their budgets. Each will have different implications for the kind of [1], mostly through its own aid infra- The HPSR portfolio. To identify the knowledge produced and for its possi- structure. Yet this funding is not object of research the concept of the ble influence on the health system [4]. enough to meet needs and there is research portfolio can be useful. The This subject has been explored for pressure to increase it. In the context HPSR portfolio can be defined as the Alliance partners in developing coun- of increased and multiple sources of current set of research projects on tries, identifying the amounts and funding, the strengthening of health health system structures, functions, sources of funding for their research systems has become a critical issue. processes and results at national, portfolio [5]. Research can play a major role in international and global levels. Turning our attention now to the identifying the best policies to chan- Projects, as distinct from plans or object of research, it is useful first to nel such massive efforts, to ensure priorities, would include the recognize the many dimensions along that vertical approaches do not frag- commitment of resources towards a which HPSR could be classified. The ment fragile health systems, and to specific, time-bound aim and set of Alliance identified 17 overarching monitor and evaluate progress. objectives. concepts under which the research How ready are we to face the chal- It has been proposed that the literature for developing countries lenge of scaling up in developing research portfolio should be analyzed could be classified [6]. This analysis countries? How well suited is the along three dimensions of strategic revealed a complex heterogeneity research portfolio and the agenda for importance: where to make invest- along which researchers classify their its development? To support discus- ments, that is, the identification of the research, which is not surprising in sion of these topics at the Ministerial object of research or thematic areas an interdisciplinary field. However, Summit a conceptual framework is in which investments are made; the five overarching dimensions were proposed here. type of investment research and recognizable: development (R & D) instrument used [1] concepts reflecting the health Priority setting efforts are often and the resources spent through each system, such as policy and finan- bogged down because of inadequate area and type of instrument [3]. While cial structures, regulatory func- methods of categorization of the our contribution aims to develop the tions, processes such as research that is undertaken and the first dimension, it is useful to expand technology evaluation and qual- influences shaping it. These influ- on the other two to understand their ity monitoring, and results such ences, in turn, are often not interrelations. adequately understood, including the as satisfaction and health gain nature and role of priorities. The The Ad Hoc Committee on Health [2] the levels of the health system, conceptual framework proposed here Research proposed three types of R & such as the households and the strives to offer some simple definitions D instruments: discovery oriented community, first level facilities of the research portfolio and its vari- research to develop new health prod- and hospitals ucts and interventions; innovation ous influences, as well as indicators to [3] the issues or problems pertaining research to adapt efficacious but unaf- measure and relate these concepts. to the health system such as prior- fordable interventions to make them ities, equity and the public private The nature of overall health cost-effective, and implementation R mix research has been defined in terms of & D to achieve greater efficiency in basic, applied and strategic research. the use of existing interventions [2]. [4] the populations addressed by the These categories are useful to guide Harrison argued for the need to system, such as children, mothers investment decisions which might consider a fourth instrument, of and the elderly, or rural and urban maximize benefit [2, 3]. However, equity R & D to ensure that the populations within the field of health policy and research portfolio responds to the [5] the health needs addressed, systems research, little effort has been poor and the underlying health prob- whether in terms of risks or given to the classification of what is lems in developing countries. disease 6 NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH

While these dimensions are useful serve, among other purposes, to fund acteristics of the HPSR agendas and to characterize the research portfolio, research at regional or international priorities can also be studied in terms it is clear that there will be overlaps; levels, to strengthen the critical mass of the range of topics, issues, levels, for example, equity is both an issue of research available to inform coun- populations and health problems. and an attribute of the health system, try policy making and lesson learning They can also be ranked and their particularly if it has been integrated across countries, and to extend the emphasis revealed by frequency in monitoring and regulation. In order range of methodological approaches analysis. In this way, the agendas can to make use of these dimensions it is through comparative research [7]. The be compared across themselves, proposed to consider as the project HPSR portfolio at global level refers priorities can be identified as topic the first dimension of concepts, to research themes and projects that common topics and issues and with pertaining to health system struc- are, by their very nature, supra- similar ranking and emphasis, and the tures, functions, processes and results. national. This would involve, for influence of agendas and priorities on The topic could then be classified example, international financing of the actual research portfolio can be following normative or theoretical immunization efforts, intellectual assessed. frameworks or by using the categories property rights in health research, and Priority setting through agenda co- researchers apply in their own development of international disease ordination. It has been argued that co- research. The other four dimensions control measures. ordination of the various influences can be used to qualify the research The HPSR agendas. The HPSR port- shaping the HPSR portfolio can topic so as to provide a more detailed folio at any level is influenced by increase the impact of research on description. These four dimensions factors within and outside the equity and can contribute to its strate- could be selectively used or aggre- research system [8]. Within the gic role for development [9]. Co-ordi- gated to facilitate description accord- research system the following factors nation would involve developing a ing to the needs at hand. can be identified: research capacity; consensus of researcher, policy maker Analysis of portfolio characteris- research trends and preferences and investor agendas. Such a consen- tics. Each of the five project dimen- expressed by researchers and research sus should ideally result in a highly sions can be analyzed in terms of the institutions; research funding and coherent set of topics across the vari- range of items considered. The rank- market opportunities; and research ous actors' research agendas and, ing and emphasis of each item can also preferences voiced by policy makers, eventually, a high degree of corre- be revealed by analyzing its frequency. service managers and public opinion. spondence between agendas and the A research portfolio at any level can be Outside the health system the broad research portfolio. very focused and comprise a narrow factors shaping the portfolio are the HPSR portfolio change through co- set of topics. Or it can be wide-rang- health conditions and health system ordination is likely to involve a grad- ing across many health system func- problems as well as the cultural, ual process of adjustment to new tions, structures, processes and results. economic and political context. As a priorities, project completions, matu- It has been argued that research port- whole, these factors shape actor- ration of research capacity and fund- folios should be more focused on specific research agendas that express ing opportunities. Coordination improving immediate health problems ethical, professional and political requires interfaces and mechanisms through operations research in low values and that influence the alloca- such as Research Forums1 and Essen- income countries, where funding and tion of scarce resources towards alter- tial National Health Research Mech- human resources are very limited [3]. native project portfolios. anisms [10] to develop a consensus However, the challenges of scaling up It is clear that if actor agendas have while allowing, and even encourag- disease control programs call for few areas in common there will be no ing, critical differences. research at the health systems level consensus and therefore no overall also. priorities. Significant overlap of inter- In sum, the HPSR portfolio can encompass a differing range of topics The level at which the portfolio is est, on the other hand, can lead to the with diverse rankings and emphases; analyzed is important, as it will have identification and formulation of can be more or less coherent with different characteristics and uses. At shared research priorities. Research respect to researcher, funding and national level, the HPSR portfolio priorities are therefore defined as the policy maker agendas; and can be would be the set of projects address- explicit areas of agreement on, and ranking of, the object of research more or less co-ordinated along a set ing health and health system prob- across diverse actor agendas. Priori- of shared priorities. The interplay of lems within the confines of national ties can then become policy instru- these dimensions can give rise to a borders and governmental authority ments to coordinate diverse agendas number of scenarios, of which three as well as sector-wide and inter- towards a common end without forc- are here illustrated. sectoral issues. Examples would be ing a single research agenda. the impact on equity of decentraliza- (a) Co-ordination could lead to focus- tion policies, or the roles played by The characteristics of agendas and ing the HPSR portfolio on a few, conflicting policy actors in scaling up of priorities can be identified through highly cost-effective topics in a of services. The international research the same kinds of dimensions and situation of few resources and well portfolio would be topic areas which indicators as the research portfolio. 1 See for exemple the case of the Tanzania are common across a number of That is, preferences can be classified National Health Research Forum co-ordi- countries or regions. Identification of in terms of topics, issues or benefici- nated by the National Institute for the international portfolio could aries, and health problems. The char- Medical Research NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH 7

identified, high priority needs. research portfolio with little [5] M.A Gonzalez-Block & A. Mills, There would be, eventually, a high impact on development. Assessing capacity for health degree of coherence across the Irrespective of the availability of policy and systems research in low portfolio and agendas held by resources, co-ordinating mechanisms and middle income countries. various actors. The risks here are likely to be important to ensure Health Research Policy and would be lack of diversity to foster an efficient use of research resources. Systems, 1:1 (2003). innovation and healthy criticism. The Alliance is now analysing [6] Alliance for Health Policy and (b) In a situation of plentiful resources survey results with this analytical Systems Research, Development the research portfolio and its driv- framework in order to contribute to of an HPSR Thesaurus. Newslet- ing agendas could be wide-rang- identifying the international agenda. ter of the Alliance-HPSR, Geneva, ing and have little overlap. Specific [1] Roxanne Nelson, Financing to No. 4, July 2001. portfolio segments would corre- Global Fund slashed by the Bush spond with particular agendas, [7] M.A. González-Block, Compara- administration, The Lancet, Vol. thus satisfying multiple interests. tive research and analysis meth- 363, No. 9407, 07 February 2004. However, co-ordination through ods for shared learning from overarching mechanisms could [2] Ad hoc committee on health health system reforms. Health ensure integration of knowledge research concerning future inter- Policy, 42 1997, 187-209. vention options, Investing in around high level priorities. In this [8] Pang, T. & R. Sadana, Health health research and development. manner a unified, although highly research systems. A framework Geneva, WHO, 1996. diverse, HPSR field of enquiry for the future. Bulletin of the would be obtained. [3] Harrison D: Health research: an World Health Organization, 2003 (c) In a situation of lack of coordi- essential tool for achieving devel- (81) 3. opment through equity. In Forg- nating mechanisms, with low [9] Commission on Health Research resources, the portfolio could ing links for health research. for Development, Health research: focus on a reduced set of topics, Perspectives from the Council on essential link to equity in devel- each satisfying a particular agenda Health Research for Development. opment. Oxford: Oxford Univer- and thus fragmenting resources Edited by Neufeld, v & N. Johnson, sity Press; 1990. and hindering support to health Ottawa: IDRC; 2001: p. 64. system development. If resources [4] Stokes, D., Pasteur’s quadrant. [10] Global Forum for Health are more plentiful, lack of coordi- Basic science and technological Research. The 10/90 report on nation could lead to a rich but innovation. Washington DC, The health research 2001-2002. Gine- highly dispersed and inefficient Brookings Institution, 1997. bra, GFHR, 2003. O

New Impact of Research on Policy Area on the Alliance Website

s reported in the last issue of the extract the concept “mother” from the converted into thesaurus concepts in AAlliance Newsletter, a significant words “a woman with her child”. This an intermediate step), or 3) by simply effort has been made to develop a new is done in different ways by different pasting in free text – an abstract of a area on the Alliance website covering software. Some extract concepts by paper you are writing, your biography, the impact of research on policy. The using a thesaurus to link terms to whatever. section opens at http://64.14.22.178 concepts (e.g., the Collexis software /aspfiles/production/rtophomems. used on the Alliance website), proba- Apart from concept-based search- asp. The core of this new area is a bility techniques to count frequencies ing through an ever-growing resource state-of-the-art Evidence Base. of association of similar terms (e.g., base (and partners are warmly invited to upload their content to the site), the Readers who tend to take such Autonomy) or semantic methods to new area is designed to serve as a plat- expressions as “state of the art” with analyse patterns of word use (e.g., form for interactive initiatives. We aim a pinch of salt should take a look at Semio). Such technologies are much to start an e-mail list, and invite part- the concept-based searching facilities more powerful in finding and match- provided on this site. ing texts than the older keyword-based ners to suggest priority topics for search technologies. discussion in a series of online confer- Concept-based search technologies ences this year, as a way to develop work by identifying the concepts in a As indicated in the illustration (see and harvest evidence and as a build- over), there are three distinct ways text and searching for those. For exam- up to the Mexico Summit. ple, the text may include a phrase users can search for information – 1) about a “woman with her child”, with- by using pre-set searches based on our So do pay a visit to the site, and let out using the word “mother”. Concept taxonomy of HPSR, 2) by typing in us know what you think. We want this based search technology is able to terms (which are then expanded and to be your resource. O 8 NEWSLETTER OF THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS RESEARCH

THE ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH AND POLICY SYSTEMS RESEARCH

Promoting policy research for health systems development

ealth policy and systems research is defined to 1) stimulate the generation and synthesis of SIDA-SAREC, the World Bank, the Department for Hbroadly as the production of new knowledge knowledge, encompassing evidence, tools and International Development of the United Kingdom and applications to improve how societies organ- methods, 2) facilitate the development of capac- (DFID), the United States Agency for Healthcare ize themselves to achieve health goals, including ity for the generation, dissemination and use of Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the International how they plan, manage and finance activities to knowledge among researchers, policy makers and Development and Research Center of Canada, (IDRC). improve health, as well as the roles, perspectives other stakeholders, and 3) promote the dissemi- The Alliance currently comprises some 340 and interests of different actors in this effort. nation and use of knowledge to improve the institutional partners using, producing or support- The Alliance aims to promote the generation, performance of health systems. ing health policy and systems research activities dissemination and use of knowledge for enhanc- Funding for the Alliance is gratefully acknowl- in any capacity. The Alliance Secretariat is based ing health system performance. Its objectives are edged from the Government of Norway, Sweden's at WHO, Geneva.

THE BOARD

Anne Mills, Chair Malaquías Lopez An initiative of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico Global Forum for Health Research England in collaboration with the Lindiwe Makubalo Sanguan Nitayarumphong, Vice-Chair Department of Health, South Africa World Health Organization Ministry of Health, Thailand Qingye Meng Enis Baris Shandong Medical University, China Miguel A. González-Block World Bank Manager for activities within WHO Gaspar Munishi Barbro Carlsson University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania World Health Organization SIDA/SAREC John-Arne Røttingen 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland Abdul Ghaffar Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Oslo Global Forum for Health Research Tel: (+41 22) 791 2840 Don de Savigny Fax: (+41 22) 791 4328 Kassem M. Kassak Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland American University of Beirut, Lebanon E-mail: [email protected] Mamadou Traoré Mary Ann Lansang National Public Health Research Institute, Mali University of the Philippines

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