Five keys to sustain effective global health programs

Now we have the knowledge and technology to prevent most causes of death. However, we, global health professionals, have not been effective in implementing standard operating procedures that allow the delivery of quality health services efficiently and consistently. On one hand, lack of access to basic public health and quality healthcare delivery services kills millions of children, women and men. On the other hand, government and donors implement projects and new initiatives and invest millions of dollars in health systems that do not meet the needs of those they are to serve yet. How to be effective? What have we learned in the last 15 years of the work towards the Millennium Development Goals and the 10 years since the Paris Declaration? This presentation will present five key principles to make sense the confusing and complex field of global health. These key principles are:

1. Everything a global health project or organizations does must improve how the country’s health system works,

 2. The health center is the center of the health system. Global health projects must increase the number of well-functioning health centers that deliver quality health care services, manage community-based programs that meet the needs of communities it serves and refer patients to hospitals when appropriate.

3. Global health projects must improve how the country’s health programs work, that is, a TB project must improve how the country’s TB program works, a MCH project must leave a better performing MCH program in the host country, etc.

 4. Global health projects must align their activities with the country’s health policies and national health plan and assist to include their activities in the next year’s national health plan and budget.

5.  Global health projects must improve how the country’s health professionals and workers perform and how their training institutions train them.