Health systems are struggling, particularly in Africa, where HIV prevalence and the burden of the disease are highest. Years of neglect, underinvestment, structural adjustment programs, and poor governance, have weakened these systems. Civil society groups have expressed concerns that the influx of resources for HIV has exposed these weaknesses and in certain cases distorted health systems. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) have also acknowledged that selective approaches targeting specific diseases may have had the unintentional effect of eroding health systems.

The HIV community has heard these concerns and is adjusting its response to ensure that HIV and AIDS programming will better contribute to improving health systems. At the 2008 International AIDS Conference, the International AIDS Society, UNAIDS, the GFATM and many senior HIV experts restated their commitment to a more balanced approach that couples universal access objectives with support for the development of strong health systems.

Given this context, in 2008, ICAD decided in 2008, that strengthening health systems in order to support broader HIV and AIDS program delivery would become one of the three key objectives of it's public engagement strategy.

Related Websites

• Center for Global Development and Blog
• Equinet: The Network on Equity in Health in Southern Africa
• Global Health Workforce Alliance
• World Health Organization: Making Health Systems Work Series

Other Resources

• From Alma Ata to the Global Fund: The History of International Health Policy. - Italian Global Health Watch
• NGO Code of Conduct for Health Systems Strengthening
• The 'diagonal' approach to Global Fund financing: a cure for the broader malaise of health systems? - Ooms, Wim Van Damme, W, Baker, BK, Zeitz, P & Schrecker, T. (2008)
• Macroeconomics and Health - Sachs, Jeffry
• World Health Organization: Task Shifting. Global Recommendations and Guidelines