In the Washington Post article “Rage, panic in AIDS fight,” David Brown alleges that the goal of health systems strengthening is “hard-to-define.” In fact, it is not.
Whatever the disease or health sector priority—be it HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, labor and delivery, or pneumonia—six components of the health system must be functioning and integrated in order for health impacts to be maximized. These components are:
- Service delivery
- Medical products, vaccines, and technology
- Financing
- Health information systems
- Leadership and governance
- The health workforce—arguably most important of all.