Skip to main content

Training Courses

India Flagship Course on Health Systems Strengthening and Sustainable Financing

India is undergoing a transformational shift where states have greater fiscal responsibility for the implementation of central government schemes and programs, combined with greater power and autonomy. The newly launched Ayushmaan Bharat with the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and the Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) presents opportunities for states to design health systems that are responsive to their unique challenges, and formulate sustainable solutions that continue to show long-term impact.

As an initiative towards realizing this, the India Flagship Course on Health Systems Strengthening and Sustainable Financing was designed and directed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard). The course sought to further strengthen the capacity of senior bureaucrats and researchers of local state-level institutions in India in their role of informing and designing health system policies and programs.

The course was organized by the Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie in partnership with the Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP); and was supported by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Government of India).

The course is modelled on the Global Flagship Course originally developed by Harvard University and the World Bank and is tailored to the Indian context.

The Flagship Course was organized from May 28-31, 2018 at LBSNAA in Mussoorie (India).  The four-day course was designed for senior policymakers/bureaucrats and representatives from institutions working on health research.

Participants engaged in systematic analysis of the challenges, opportunities and potential risks associated with using different policy levers to strengthen health systems. The course approach integrated lecture, group work, and case studies. The course approach was not advocacy but analysis.

The course ended with an assignment for the teams to design a draft health transformation plan based on the new program launched in India – the Ayushmaan Bharat.

Course on Health Systems Assessment and Diagnosis

About the Course

Systematic, evidence-based health system assessments and diagnosis are essential for driving impactful health reforms. A health system’s performance is measured by its ability to achieve both end goals and intermediate outcomes. Unlike traditional evaluations of specific interventions and programs, these diagnostic strategies and assessments require a holistic approach that encompasses all facets of the health system, extending beyond basic indicators like mortality and morbidity.

This free course on Health System Assessments and Diagnosis adopts Harvard’s Getting Health Reform Right Framework, a pioneering approach to analyzing health systems. Participants will learn the methodologies and data necessary for conducting comprehensive assessments and diagnosis, enriched with case studies from India and other nations. This course is designed to equip participants with the tools to evaluate and enhance health system performance effectively, and is available to selected participants at no cost.

Organizers

Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)

PHFI is a public private initiative that has collaboratively evolved through consultations with multiple constituencies including Indian and international academia, state and central governments, multi- and bi-lateral agencies and civil society groups. PHFI is a response to redress the limited institutional capacity in India for strengthening training, research and policy development in the area of Public Health.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) 

At the forefront of global public health education, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health leverages decades of experience in researching health systems worldwide. Our faculty and researchers have been instrumental in shaping policy and designing health systems in India, as well as in comparable countries.

Course Modules

The Course will consist of 10 modules, each with interactive and participatory webinar sessions. Although each session will be conducted as a standalone webinar, the topics are interlinked. Participants interested in learning about comprehensive health system assessments will benefit the most by participating in the entire course. Participants would have the choice to select the modules they want to attend and benefit from. However, only those participants who attend the entire course will be awarded completion certificates.

Doing Health Reform Better: A Capacity-Building Workshop (up-coming)

Successful health reforms require technical, political, and organizational skills. This workshop is intended for health systems and policy researchers, practitioners, and policy actors, and it provides an analytical framework for the health reform process. Participants will learn skills they need to assess health system performance problems, diagnose the underlying causes of these problems, design effective reforms, conduct applied political analysis, and manage implementation.

The workshop introduces participants to a practical approach to doing health reform better, using a new tool, Health Reform Manual: Eight Practical Steps (the Manual), based on the widely used Harvard health system framework and seminal book Getting Health Reform Right (Roberts et al., 2004).

This workshop provides participants with opportunities to learn health reform skills and practice them using case studies and group discussions. The case studies draw on the expertise of the workshop facilitators and the experiences of different countries to illustrate the eight steps of the reform process. Group work will allow participants to apply the Manual’s concepts and tools to their own contexts and facilitate peer learning. Participants will learn how to navigate health reform processes using a systematic step-by-step approach.