Health systems research symposium attracts 1800
The Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research: Inclusion and Innovation Towards Universal Health Coverage has attracted a new record of almost 1800 participants from around the world. It is being held 31 October – 3 November in Beijing. TDR is a co-sponsor and is there with discussions on how to build research capacity and on the development of a new implementation research curriculum. Plenary sessions are webcast live daily and WHO is tweeting daily.
The first Symposium was held in 2010 in Montreux, Switzerland, with the goals of increasing awareness of the need for research into health systems, and to improve the methods for doing this. This Symposium has continued those goals, with the theme of “Inclusion and innovation towards universal health coverage.”
A curriculum on implementation research will be reviewed at a full-day TDR satellite session on 31 October. This has been under development with the Implementation Research Platform (IRP) of the World Health Organization and USAID, and this session is designed to seek input and ideas.
TDR Director Dr John Reeder will speak at the launch of a new journal, Infectious Diseases of Poverty, sponsored by Biomed Central and the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The online journal is building on the “One health – One world” approach recommended by the authors of The Global Report for Research on Infectious Diseases of Poverty, published earlier this year by TDR. The first issue will have a small print run for the Symposium, and features 10 articles within a health systems framework addressing diseases of poverty, treatments, delivery strategies, health technologies, financial incentives, and programmes focused on the hard-to-reach rural and urban communities.
The ESSENCE on health research group of funders will also be at the Symposium. TDR provides secretariat support to this group aiming to improve the impact of investments in institutions and people, and provide enabling mechanisms that address needs and priorities within national strategies on research for health. ESSENCE will hold a satellite session, “Strengthening health systems research capacity: how to increase effectiveness 2.0” on 1 November from 16:30 - 18:00 in Room 203A.
All plenary sessions will be webcast live and can be seen on the Symposium web site, which has the full programme and many related links.
The Symposium will be reported on by TropIKA.net, which will set up a Knowledge Hub at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research. Coverage will focus on selected sessions related to infectious diseases of poverty: funding and capacity building for health systems research, implementation research, community-directed interventions, reviewing evidence for policy, translation of research into public health interventions and the interactions of global health initiatives with health systems.
For more information, please contact:
Jamie Guth
TDR Communications Manager
Telephone: +41 79 441 2289
E-mail: guthj@who.int