DECENTR: New Electronic Discussion Group
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FORUM ON HEALTH SECTOR DECENTRALIZATION (DECENTR)
Management Sciences for Health is pleased to announce an electronic forum
on health sector decentralization, beginning June 16, 1997.
Decentralization is advocated as a significant way to improve access, qual-
ity and efficiency of public sector health and family planning services.
The World Bank, for instance, stated in the 1993 World Development Report
that "Decentralization of government health services is potentially the
most important force for improving efficiency and responding to local
health conditions and demands."
Many countries and large non-governmental organizations have already trans-
ferred power from the central to the peripheral levels or are planning to
do so soon, and real life experiences with decentralization are beginning
to accumulate. While some of these experiences are encouraging, others are
raising serious concerns about the impact of decentralization on the per-
formance of the health sector, and ultimately on the health of the people
it serves. Very few opportunities exist for exchanging information about
the goals, implementation mechanisms, and impact of decentralization be-
tween countries.
MSH's Decentralization Forum (DECENTR) is set up to provide an avenue for
exchanging experiences, opinions and research findings of health sector de-
centralization. Its aim is to deepen the understanding of decentralization
as a mechanism for improving the performance of the health sector. This
will be done by encouraging discussion and debate, and through sharing of
information on real life experiences with decentralization.
Suggested topics for discussion include:
* Decentralization's impact on health services at local and national levels
* Specific causes for such impact
* Difficulties encountered in implementing health sector decentralization
* Requirements for successful decentralization
* Definition of "decentralization"
By sharing real life successes and challenges, we hope to help individuals,
countries, and organizations design more appropriate decentralized health
systems, implement the transfer of power smoothly, and gain more health
sector benefits from the transfer of power.
To subscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@mail.msh.org
Leave the subject line blank
Enter the message text: subscribe decentr
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Riitta-Liisa Kolehmainen-Aitken
mailto:RLKAITKEN@MSH.ORG
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