Innovations in Supporting Local Health Systems for Global Women’s Health

Conventional approaches to health in poor countries focus on disease–specific interventions and their cost effectiveness, implemented via the path of least resistance with a strong emphasis on short term results. The upshot is that sys- temic problems which underlie poor health, failing health systems, and health inequity are circumvented. Long–term, sustainable strategies are rarely devel- oped or deployed. The crisis may change its spots, expressing itself in different diseases, populations or geographic areas, but it essentially continues unabated. The most fundamental challenge is to sustain the political pressure and leadership required over the long term to strengthen and restore health systems — health systems that will not...