Global Health > News > 2012 > The first global socie...
2012-10-25
The first global society for health system research takes off
"Whither Healthcare for Me" photo: NS Prashanth, Karnataka, India 2006 An old man waits for his turn for consultation at a rural primary health centre in North Karnataka in south India. Several low/middle income countries face the challenge of organizing continuous care for chronic conditions especially among elderly along with a demand for rapid and quick responses to communicable diseases. Are our health systems prepared?
On 31 October, the world’s first global society for research on health system takes off. CHIP, University of Copenhagen, is a founding member and the secretariat of ‘Health Systems Global,’ which is the first international membership organisation fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and knowledge translation.
The society is tasked with holding a global symposium on health systems research every two years, which focuses on creating new knowledge; supporting knowledge translation through a focus on bridging knowledge creation with practical application; and fostering research on the application of new knowledge in real world settings, i.e., implementation science.
“This week is historic for health systems research. The first global society is being 
founded, here at University of Copenhagen, and the second global symposium on health system research is being held in China. We invite all interested staff and students to join the already more than 1200 members in making Health Systems Global a success,” says Professor Jeffrey V. Lazarus, head of HS Global Copenhagen Secretariat and a founding member.
Health Systems Global builds upon the growing acknowledgement that health systems performance problems in low- and middle-income countries are a major impediment to making more rapid progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and ensuring universal health coverage.
“More research is needed to address the reasons for health system weaknesses and the ways and means of improving performance. We believe this society is a major step towards achieving this,” point out members Jeffrey Lazarus, Dan Kraushaar and Marie-Paule Kieny.
Health Systems Global will be launched at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, 31 October–3 November 2012 in Beijing. More than 1800 participants will be in attendance.
