We would like to thank Lapão1 and Schwarcz et al2 for their thoughtful additions related to our article “Implementation of a health management mentoring program: Year-1 evaluation of its impact on health system strengthening in Zambézia Province, Mozambique,”3 and for sharing their practical lessons and insights into the state of health system strengthening activities. In our article, we descri...

BACKGROUND Immunization is the most cost-effective method to prevent and control vaccine-preventable diseases. Migrant population in China has been rising rapidly, and their immunization status is poor. China has tried various strategies to strengthen its health system, which has significantly improved immunization for migrants. METHODS This study applied a qualitative retrospective review me...

BACKGROUND Millions of dollars are invested annually under the umbrella of national health systems strengthening. Global health initiatives provide funding for low- and middle-income countries through disease-oriented programmes while maintaining that the interventions simultaneously strengthen systems. However, it is as yet unclear which, and to what extent, system-level interventions are bein...

Pharmaceutical products are indispensable for improving health outcomes. An extensive body of work on access to and use of medicines has resulted in an assortment of tools measuring various elements of pharmaceutical systems. Until now however, there has been little attempt to conceptualize a pharmaceutical system as an entity and define its strengthening in a way that allows for measuring syst...

OBJECTIVE To explore the feasibility of health systems strengthening from the perspective of international healthcare implementers and donors in South Sudan. DESIGN A qualitative interview study, with thematic analysis using the WHO health system building blocks framework. SETTING South Sudan. PARTICIPANTS 17 health system practitioners, working for international agencies in South Sudan, ...

INTRODUCTION A health systems approach to understanding efforts for improving health care services is gaining traction globally. A component of this approach focuses on health system governance (HSG), which can make or mar the successful implementation of health care interventions. Very few studies have explored HSG in low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Studies focusing on men...

BACKGROUND The involvement of mental health service users and their caregivers in health system policy and planning, service monitoring and research can contribute to mental health system strengthening, but as yet there have been very few efforts to do so in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS This systematic review examined the evidence and experience of service user and caregi...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The World Health Organisation's (WHO) sixty-fourth World Health Assembly in May 2011 adopted a resolution on 'strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities and resilience of health systems'. Disaster management is a topical issue globally and countries are being encouraged to improve their disaster preparedness, along with growing international...