Dear all
Please visit and join the 'Technologies for Health Systems Strengthening' discussion at http://thesys.open.ac.uk/
Hear from Judith Sutz, Academic Coordinator of the Scientific Research Council of the University de la República, Uruguay, who emphasises the importance of bottom-up approaches to closing the gap between health and innovation needs:
"When there is no treatment or nota preventive vaccine against a disease that affects millions of people, the need for innovation is clear. When children die because the public hospital nearer their home does not have the kind of equipment that is available in private clinics or abroad, the need for innovation does not appear so clearly. We can suggest the term "inclusive import substitution" for this kind of innovation, aimed at making available solutions that are as out of reach for the poor in developing countries as if they would not exist at all."
Maureen Mackintosh, Open University Professor of Economics, speaks about the need to focus more on health systems strengthening from the start:
"I think the challenge really for the big partnerships is to go beyond evoking the importance of health systems strengthening and really to make some hard decisions as to what the priorities are if we want seriously for example to expand access to essential medicines to the whole population of low income countries."
We also hear Christian Loucq, Director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, talk about their product development partnership model (PDP):
"The vaccine PDP model of PATH developed a product to fit within the existing system, to strengthen the system but not to break the system. PDPs used at PATH including MVI, do their work with current health systems... we can't expect programs and systems to adapt to our product. Our product must fit the system."
In the coming days we will also feature a video file from Prof. Miriam Were, Chair of Kenya's National AIDS Control Council, talking about the importance of integrated health product development within the African context.
We also feature blogs from ESRC Innogen Centre staff:
- Partnerships bring health equity? <http://thesys.open.ac.uk/thesys_weekly_blog.nsf/dx/12032009165608MCSMV7.htm>
- Health security: Are developing countries doing enough? <http://thesys.open.ac.uk/thesys_weekly_blog.nsf/dx/partnerships-bring-health-equity>
- and shortly: A call for mixing public health and industrial growth perspectives
Visit http://thesys.open.ac.uk/blog
Why the discussion?
In just over 2 weeks (6&7 April) the OU will be hosting a milestone international workshop under the banner 'Technologies for Health Systems Strengthening' or THeSyS. This event is being organised and hosted by the ESRC Innogen Centre and other partners within the OU. About 40 academics, practitioners, policy makers and private sector players of international standing working on health and allied issues have confirmed their attendance.
The workshop, and the THeSyS electronic discussion taking place prior to it are asking a number of questions around the multi-pronged strategies that have been put in place worldwide in the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for health challenges of the world's poorest populations. For example, with respect to product development partnerships, we are asking whether and how they deliver new organisational mechanisms to deal with the challenges? Whether these mechanisms benefit both the partnerships and health systems and not just the former? How do we track and measure the success of these partnerships and their contribution to sustainable health systems? And many many more questions.
For more information email: j.t.mugwagwa@open.ac.uk or r.e.hanlin@open.ac.uk
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Rebecca Hanlin
Lecturer in Development Policy and Practice/
Researcher, ESRC Innogen Centre
Open University
Websites: www.dpp.open.ac.uk & www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk/innogen
Telephone: +44 (0)1908 858572
mailto:r.e.hanlin@open.ac.uk