Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator’s Post

📢What role are you playing?? Realizing the full potential of the health advancements in Africa requires more than just innovative solutions; it demands a collaborative effort from all stakeholders within the healthcare ecosystem. To successfully advance digital health in Africa, it is essential for multiple stakeholders to work together. These stakeholders include: ✅Government and Policymakers: Establishing supportive policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe and effective implementation of digital health solutions. ✅Healthcare Providers: Adopting and integrating digital tools into their practices to enhance patient care and streamline operations. ✅Technology Companies: Developing cutting-edge solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges of the African healthcare environment. ✅Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs): Providing on-ground support, advocacy, and resources to bridge gaps and ensure equitable access to digital health innovations. ✅Educational Institutions: Training the next generation of healthcare professionals and technologists to leverage digital tools effectively. ✅Community Leaders and Patients: Engaging with and educating communities to increase acceptance and utilization of digital health services. Each party brings unique strengths and perspectives, making collective action not just beneficial, but essential. Tell us what role you are playing in the Africa digital health ecosystem 👇🏼👇🏼

Absolutely spot on! This is exactly our approach at the Digital Health Interoperability Network (DHIN)- creating a neutral and collaborative space where stakeholders can come together to learn, refine, and expand upon their existing solutions. Moreso, incorporating standards into our legacy framework is the bedrock of building an enabling ecosystem. There’s quite some research pointing to digital health creating a fragmentation epidemic because we’re building first and standardizing later. Our approach is really simple: set standards from the outset to ensure interoperability and bring all relevant stakeholders together, not just to learn but also to be empowered to contribute to re-shaping policies that directly impact them.

On 21 - 23 August 2023, I attended the 7th meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global (APPFGH) as a WHO secretariat member. The theme of 7th meeting was "building primary health care for the future. I facilitated a session on "accelerating PHC reform through health innovation". I advocated the followings: (1) Governments should set the value and direction for health innovation by placing PHC-oriented innovation at the forefront of policy agendas. (2) Governments should take a long-term perspective and provide sustainable funding to health innovation for PHC as innovation may take time to yield results but can have a lasting positive impact. (3) Government should take initiatives and provide support for health innovation ecosystem stakeholder to develop skills, processes, and strategies necessary to drive innovation. (4) Evaluation is another fundamental role of government. It helps understand what works, what does not, and why. It will help governments refine their strategies, more effectively allocate resources, and ultimately achieve impact. #healthinnovation #appfgh #phc

IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM, HUMAN RESOURCES ARE VITAL Various clinical and non-clinical staff members play crucial roles in facilitating individual and public health interventions. They constitute the most significant inputs of the health system. Ultimately, the performance of healthcare systems relies on the knowledge, skills, and motivation of the individuals tasked with delivering services. Tanzania Healthcare Services - Frannie Tanzania Health Summit Amref Health Africa Tanzania Management and Development for Health (MDH)

📣 Contribute to Health Equity: Share Your Insights on Implementing USAID-Funded Health Projects The Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator (Accelerator) seeks input from organizations implementing USAID-funded health projects. We aim to learn more about programming approaches to health equity, health systems strengthening (HSS), and social and behavior change (SBC), and their potential interconnections. The findings from this inquiry will be summarized in a learning brief, identifying key implementation considerations for HSS programming that integrates health equity and SBC. 🕒 Time Commitment: 15-20 minutes 🔒 Anonymity: Your responses are anonymous 📋 Process: Please move through each section and click submit at the end Your expertise and insights are invaluable to us, and we are very grateful for your willingness to contribute and help us improve health systems and #equity. ▶️ https://bit.ly/4aLBoCr #HealthEquity #USAID #HealthSystems #SBC #PublicHealth

Counting days until the Inaugural Kenya SMART Guidelines Community of Practice Breakfast Meeting! Organized by IntelliSOFT Consulting Ltd, Kenya Health Informatics Association (KeHIA), The Pan African Health Informatics Association (HELINA) and Ministry of Health, Kenya, this pioneering initiative aims to: - Advocate for adopting WHO SMART guidelines. - Foster knowledge sharing. - Promote evidence-based #digitalhealth interventions, applications and services. - Exchange best practices. The SMART guidelines ensure scalable, interoperable, accessible, reusable & secure digital interventions for seamless, efficient & equitable care. Stay tuned for more updates! #SMARTguidelines #digitalsolutions #healthcare #healthsystems #healthtech

Exciting insights from the side session on "South-South Collaboration – Harnessing Cross-Country Learning for Sustainable Health System Policy Reform", at the 77th World Health Assembly Hosted by JLN, UHC Delivery Lan and Amref Health Africa, this session highlighted the power of participatory knowledge production in strengthening health systems. Key takeaways: i. Cross-country learning effectively shares best practices and tailored solutions. ii. Adaptive and participatory approaches address evolving health challenges. iii.Continuous, collaborative learning and engagement are crucial for sustainable reforms. iv. Government buy-in and resource commitment are necessary for successful learning exchanges. Success stories from Ghana, Malaysia, and Kenya underscore the transformative potential of cross-country learning. This blog highlights more on fostering collaboration and building resilient health systems towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). https://lnkd.in/dV_5idsd #SouthSouthCollaboration #UHC #GlobalHealth #JLN4UHC #AmrefatWHA77 #HealthSystemsReform. AMREF Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Mercy Mwangangi ANTHONY ADOFO OFOSU DINASH ARAVIND Mayindo Jean Kagubare Gregory Ganda Titus Kisangau MPRSK isha sharma Dr. Cynthia Waliaula Dr. Rispah Walumbe

Today Anca Toma, EPF Executive Director, attended the ‘High-Level Conference on the Future EU Health Union’, organised by the Belgian Presidency of the EU. During her intervention, she outlined the importance of strengthening the European health workforce by highlighting two key reasons: 📌 Having a motivated, well-trained, and adequately supported workforce is essential for ensuring patients' access to care, enhancing patient safety, and ultimately fostering improved health outcomes. 📌 Secondly, she remarked on the pivotal role that health professionals play on the front lines in addressing future health crises. What strategies should we adopt to support health professionals in Europe? According to Anca, two approaches could be crucial: 📌 At the professional level, advocating for investment in the acquisition of skills necessary to effectively leverage emerging technologies. 📌 At the general public level, advocating for investment in health literacy initiatives to empower patients to take an active role in their care and lead them towards better treatment adherence and health outcomes. #PatientPerspective

As healthcare professionals, we need to embark on a transformative journey to revolutionise the South African health system! 🌍💡 It is evident that there is a compelling need to re-architect the South African health system to better serve the masses. The success of such a system depends on its design, implementation and sustained management of the system. The integration of digital technologies facilitates a shift from a 'human resources '-centered approach to an operationally driven solution. South Africa faces a well-documented challenge of an unequal distribution of human resources in the healthcare sector. Addressing this issue and meeting the growing demand for robust healthcare services necessitates a strategic focus on systems strengthening, with the integration of digital technologies serving as a crucial starting point. #universalhealthcoverage #systemthinking #systemstrenghtening #digitaltechnologies #healthcare

⚙️ Are you part of an organization implementing a USAID-funded health project? ❗️Complete this form and share your input with the Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator. It only takes 15-20 minutes, and your responses will contribute to a learning brief on HSS programming approaches to health equity and social and behavior change. #HealthEquity #HealthSystemsStrengthening #GlobalHealth