Presented by Associate Professor Anna Klinken Whelan

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Presented by Associate Professor Anna Klinken
Whelan School of Public Health and Community
Medicine
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Not really about governance!

• What are Knowledge Hubs?
• Contributing to health systems strengthening in
  the Asia-Pacific region
• Funding acknowledged from AusAID

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The Policy Context

• Australian Aid Promoting Growth and Stability
  A White Paper on the Australian Governments
  Overseas Aid Program (2006)
• Helping Health Systems Deliver A Policy for
  Australian Development Assistance in Health
  (2006)
• May 2007 under Delivering Better Health
  Initiative, four year commitment of 585.2
  million to improve health in the Asia Pacific
  region
• A Strategic Partnerships for Health Initiative.
  The objective of this Initiative is to contribute
  to improved health outcomes in the Asia Pacific
  region by leveraging Australian ideas and
  technical expertise in public policy and key
  areas of health administration.
• New way of working...

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Global Knowledge Networks

• Knowledge networks incorporate professional
  bodies, academic research groups and scientific
  communities that organise around a special
  subject matter or issue. Individual or
  institutional inclusion in such networks is based
  upon professional and/or official recognition of
  expertise, as well as more subtle and informal
  processes of validating scholarly and scientific
  credibility. The primary motivation of such
  networks is to create and advance knowledge as
  well as to share, spread and in some cases, use
  that knowledge to inform policy and apply to
  practice.
• (Stone Maxwell, 2004)

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Growing literature on knowledge translation and
exchange

• Research and policy relationship (Klein 2000
  Muir Gray 2004)
• University based Centres as knowledge
  translation experts who understand how
  integration of research and policy works in
  practice and policy domains (Dobbins et al. 2002
  Kitson et al. 1996 Lomas 1997a)
• RCT of three knowledge translation  strategies
  (Dobbins M, Robeson P, Ciliska D, Hanna S,
  Cameron R, O'Mara L, DeCorby K,  Mercer S,
  2009).   

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Strategic Partnerships for Health

• AusAID funded initiative
• Commenced 2008
• Establishment of four knowledge hubs on key
  thematic priorities for strengthening health
  systems in Asia Pacific region

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Priority Countries

• Papua New Guinea
• Indonesia
• Solomon Islands
• Fiji, Vanuatu Pacific
• Timor Leste
• Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos

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The Four Knowledge Hubs
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The hubs are..

• Drawing on own extensive professional and
  institutional networks with international
  counterparts and in-country partners
• Linking with key people working in their
  respective areas, strengthening and expanding
  networks and identifying opportunities for
  multidisciplinary collaboration
• Expected to become leaders in their fields and
  make a substantial contribution to improving the
  quality and effectiveness of a scaled-up
  Australian aid program in health

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Expected Outcomes

• Enhanced AusAID capacity to contribute to
  improved effectiveness of the aid program in
  health
• Generation and dissemination of knowledge and
  innovative solutions through strengthened
  networks, strategic collaboration and drawing
  together of multidisciplinary expertise and
  stakeholder perspectives
• Capacity building in regional universities and
  institutes to contribute to policy, research and
  health system strengthening
• Inclusion of evidenced based Asia Pacific
  perspectives in global health development debates

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Some of the Workforce Challenges in the Asia
Pacific

• Critical workforce shortages
• Imbalances in skill mix and distribution
• Migration of skilled health workers
• Poor work environments and remuneration
• Weak knowledge base of health workforce
• Country contexts and burden of disease

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Strategic Priorities
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Strategic Partnerships for Strengthening HRH
(AusAID and Hub Partners)

• Knowledge brokering and codification
• Systematic reviews
• Knowledge warehousing
• Knowledge Creation and Reuse
• Policy notes and strategic papers
• Collaborative research
• Publication/position papers
• Knowledge transfer and dissemination
• Knowledge exchange
• HRH exchange/HRH portal
• Regional nodes (capacity building)
• Knowledge internalization and use
• Teaching/training
• Practice guidelines/tools
• Evaluation studies

Health Systems Impact Evidence based
policy Improved HRH capacity in country
partners Leadership for HRH Health systems
effectiveness Development partner aid
effectiveness
HRH networks (existing) PHRHA/AAAH GHWA/JLI
Institutional partnerships Australian academic
partners Regional Universities/ institutions
HRH hub _at_UNSW
Development partners WHO/WPRO/UN/ Wprld
Bank/ADB/Gates
Australian Institutions Health Departments,
International Consulting Agencies NGOs
Monitoring and Evaluation
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HRH Work Program 2009 (products)

• Human Resources for Health priority country
  profiles
• Strengthening Health Leadership and Management
  Capacity in Asia-Pacific Region
• Evidence informed community-based (CB) maternal,
  newborn and reproductive care (MNRC) staffing

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1. Development of a classification schema
for health financing systemsWHY There is a
need to consistently describe and classify
different health financing systems in use in the
Asia Pacific Region so that impacts of different
health policies can be analysed in a coherent
wayPartners AIHW, John Goss and Sandra Hopkins
- Curtin UniversityReference Group Planned
(Joseph Kutzin, WHO, ? David Evans, OECD, WB,
Regional partner, ? S.Korea2. Role of Non State
providers and Implications for Health Policy
Multi Country Analysis Indonesia, Vietnam,
PNGWHY Non State providers (private Sector) is
a major component of the health sector. However,
many countries Ministries of Health have little
idea of what is actually going in the private
sector, what types of services, the quality of
services, distribution, human resources.
Marketisation of health has changed they way
services are provided and demanded in many
countries across the Asia Pacific Region. There
is a need to better understand, document and
develop evidence based policy options for working
with and creating appropriate regulation,
governance and public protection
mechanismsPartners Center for Health Services
Management, Indonesia, Health Strategy and Policy
Institute, Vietnam, PNG?
Health Policy/Financing Hub Work Program 2009
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3. Pacific Focus Health Policy Development 1.
Challenges for Evidence Based Policy Making
WHY To better document and understand the
policy making processin the pacific region and
develop some tools that policy makers
andpractitioners can use in the region evidence
base policy makingPartners Joel NeginMenzies
Center for Health Policy, UniSyd
Work Program 2009
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Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub at the
University of Queensland

• HIS defined using the Health Metrics Network
  (HMN) Framework and Standards for Country Health
  Information Systems

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2009 HIS Work Program

• Pacific Focus Reviewing Health Information
  System Development in the Pacific Region
• Critical review and appraisal of HIS developments
  in partner countries/region
• Field-testing guidelines for assessing quality
  and functioning of Vital Registration Systems
• Working Paper on the role of Health Surveys in
  HIS development
• Building networks within Australia/regionally/
  globally
• Convene a regional HIS Development Forum Nov
  09
• Initiate Australian and regional training programs

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Womens and Childrens Health Knowledge Hub
(Compass)

• Collaboration between
• Centre for International Health, Burnet Institute
• Centre for International Child Health, University
  of Melbourne
• Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin
• Purpose Improve effectiveness of aid for WCH
  with an emphasis on contributing to equitable
  progress towards MDGs 4 and 5 by generating
  knowledge in order to
• Advocate for greater investment in WCH
• Facilitate partnerships
• Influence policy and practice
• Respond to changing contexts
• Focus on Asia and Pacific regions in which half
  of all maternal deaths and 40 of all child
  deaths occur.

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WCH Hub 2009 Work Program

• Identifying the critical factors for the
  implementation, integration and optimal impact of
  the Regional Child Survival Strategy
• Towards MDG5 generating evidence for stronger
  systems to deliver maternal, newborn and
  reproductive health
• Focus on management of community health workers,
  reaching emergency obstetric care, community
  level maternal and child health interventions,
  and barriers and enablers to adolescents
  accessing reproductive and maternal health
  services
• Nutrition critical appraisal tool to support
  governments in prioritising and managing the
  scaling up of effective interventions

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Parents
Adolescents
Maternal health
Sexual health
Newborns
Children
Services
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Contacts Hub Directors/Managers

• HRH Hub
• John Hall j.hall_at_UNSW.edu.au
• Health Policy Financing Hub
• Ahmer Hussain Akhtar aakhtar_at_unimelb.edu.au
• Health Information Systems
• Vicki Bennett v.bennett_at_sph.uq.edu.au
• Womens and Childrens Hub
• Natalie Grey nataliegray_at_burnet.edu.au

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• Thank you and we hope that we can link where
  there are common areas of interest...