The Global Health System: Lessons for a Stronger Institutional Framework

Suerie Moon1*, Nicole A. Szleza´k1, Catherine M. Michaud2, Dean T. Jamison3, Gerald T. Keusch4, William C. Clark1, Barry R. Bloom5

1 Sustainability Science Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA,
2 Harvard Initiative for Global Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA,
3 Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA,
4 Global Health Initiative, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
5 Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
PLoS Med 7(1): e1000193. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000193 - Published January 26, 2010
Academic Editor: Gill Walt, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom

Available online at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000193
“…….The global health system is in a period of rapid transition, with an upsurge of funds and greater political recognition, a broader range of health challenges, many new actors, and the rules, norms and expectations that govern them in flux. The introductory article of this series (Szleza´k et al. [1]) laid out some of the many challenges facing the global health system.
This system is defined as the constellation of actors (individuals and/or organizations) ‘‘whose primary purpose is to promote, restore or maintain health [2]’’ and ‘‘the persistent and connected sets of rules (formal or informal), that prescribe behavioral roles, constrain activity, and shape expectation [3]’’ among these actors.
The second article (Frenk [4]) defined the key attributes of national health systems as a core component of the global system. The third article (Keusch et al. [5]) analyzed the institutional evolution of one of the system’s most important functions—the integration of research, development, and delivery…..”

The Global Health System: Actors, Norms, and Expectations in Transition
Szleza´k NA, Bloom BR, Jamison DT, Keusch GT, Michaud CM, et al. (2010)
PLoS Med 7: e1000183. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000183.
The Global Health System: Strengthening National Health Systems as the Next Step for Global Progress.
Frenk J (2010)
PLoS Med 7(1): e1000089. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000089.
The Global Health System: Linking Knowledge with Action—Learning from Malaria.
Keusch GT, Kilama WL, Moon S, Szlezak NA, Michaud CM (2010)
PLoS Med 7(1): e1000193. doi:10.1371/ journal.pmed.1000193.