BACKGROUND The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has focused its attention on appraising health development assistance projects and redirecting efforts towards health system strengthening. This study aimed to describe the type of project and targets of interest, and assess the contribution of JICA health-related projects to strengthening health systems worldwide. METHODS We collec...

Commitment of political leadership The PNG government have been committed to improving maternal and child health. A number of reports over the past 5 years have highlighted the problems and proposed solutions including the Ministerial Taskforce on Maternal Health in PNG (2009); and the PNG Child Health Policy & Plan 2009-2020. These two reports particularly give a clear indication of the commit...

There is increased interest in strengthening health systems for developing countries. However, at present, there is common uncertainty about how to accomplish this task. Specifically, several nations are faced with an immense challenge of revamping an entire system. To accomplish this, it is essential to first identify the components of the system that require modification. The World Health Org...

BACKGROUND Systems of governance play a key role in the operation and performance of health systems. In the past six decades, China has made great advances in strengthening its health system, most notably in establishing a health insurance system that enables residents of rural areas to achieve access to essential services. Although there have been several studies of rural health insurance sche...

On November 6, 2002, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) convened a group of experts from the fields of philanthropy, research, government, and policy to examine the nation's public health infrastructure and explore opportunities for grantmakers to strengthen and sustain this fragile and troubled system. During the course of this meeting, representatives from the Institute of Medicine, which recently r...