HPSR Knowledge Platform
![](https://hsrii.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Slide1-001.jpg)
Health Policy & Systems Research (HPSR), is an emerging global field with its own evolving standards for creating, evaluating, and utilizing knowledge, and distinguished by a particular orientation towards influencing policy and wider action to strengthen health systems. It is widely recognized as a critical element of the action needed to achieve the health-focused Millennium Development Goals, strengthen primary health care, and advance towards Universal Health Coverage. The Alliance for Health Systems and Policy Research (ASHPR) at WHO has identified nodal institutes in several countries, housed in academic/research institutions which are critically engaged in Implementation Research (IR) and Health Policy & Systems Research (HPSR).A Nodal Institute serves as a resource for 7-10 academic/research institutions and decision-making bodies in its respective territory. The functions of the Nodal Institute include developing training programs for researchers, carrying out biannual mapping of health systems research and practice, collaborating with other IRP partners and initiatives, supporting scale up of effective interventions and promoting IR & HPSR..
India has a growing community of Health Policy & Systems Researchers with varied disciplinary antecedents in the social sciences and public health. Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), is designated as the Nodal Institute for Health Policy and Systems Research for India by the AHPSR. As the Nodal Institute of the Alliance for Health Policy & Systems Research in India, PHFI has the mandate to support HPSR community and capacity development, extend collaborations with existing HPSR institutions and researchers and to facilitate the use of HPSR evidence by health system decision-makers in the country. PHFI, in partnership with premier HPSR organizations in India and inputs from other global leaders in the field, has contributed significantly to this mandate. So far the Nodal Institute has mapped national capacity for HPSR in India, held a series of interactions between researchers and policy makers, and initiated some critical dialogues with the health ministry towards realizing an institutionalized support environment for HPSR in India. It has convened as well as supported presence of Indian HPSR researchers in Global Health Systems Research Symposiums. It has also successfully launched a nationwide HPSR capacity building initiative “KEYSTONE” involving lead researchers and institutions involved in HPSR- 20 researchers identified through a rigorous selection process got trained under this initiative, by a group of faculty pooled from renowned HPSR institutions. It has facilitated involvement of several internationally known health systems and policy researchers and research initiatives for this process as well.
One of the mandates of the Nodal Institute project was to strengthen the existing networks and initiatives engaged in health systems research and dissemination of health systems knowledge. In this regard PHFI extended its support to Health Systems Research India Initiative (HSRII), for further strengthening its activities and initiatives. HSRII is one of the leading knowledge exchange platforms aimed at facilitating knowledge dissemination of health systems research as well as implementation research in India. Objective of this initiative is strengthening health systems through knowledge exchange and through implementing health systems initiatives in India. During the Third Health Systems Global Symposium held at Cape Town in 2014, HSRII received the first “Health Systems Global Social Media Award” for the best use of social media for informing, advocating and engaging for health systems. With the support of the Nodal Institute project, HSRII knowledge network is now being migrated into the current web based platform. The website based Knowledge Exchange Platform includes new initiatives such as (1) HPSR Blog, (2) HPSR Article-Watch, (3) HPSR News-Watch, (4) HPSR Event-Watch and (5) HPSR Newsletter; all these will facilitate optimum dissemination of health systems knowledge and strengthen the HPSR community interactions in the country.
In addition to its primary mandate of strengthening HPSR knowledge dissemination under this project, the HSRII has also provided data collection interface and technical assistance to the Nodal Institute team for conducting and managing the first National Survey of organizations engaged in HPSR – as a first survey of its kind in the country, this helped in identifying various issues and concerns related to HPSR capacities in the country.
We will be happy to have your valuable feedbacks on the newly built up web interface and its utility. Our sincere thanks to the AHPSR Nodal Institute team at PHFI, for their support to make this happen.
Latest Updates
Article Watch, Event Watch, Blogs etcBig-pharmaceuticalisation: Clinical trials and Contract Research Organisations in India
Big-pharmaceuticalisation: Clinical trials and Contract Research Organisations in India Salla Sariolaa, et al,Social Science and Medicine,2015 Open Access funded by Economic and Social Research Council Under a Creative Commons license Abstract The World Trade...
What Can Education Systems Research Learn from Health Systems Research?
What Can Education Systems Research Learn from Health Systems Research? Kara Hanson London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Abstract: Effective delivery of health services is underpinned by a health system, and the field of health systems research has emerged...
Analysing implementer narratives on addressing health inequity through convergent action on the social determinants of health in India
Analysing implementer narratives on addressing health inequity through convergent action on the social determinants of health in India Devaki Nambiar1*, Arundati Muralidharan1, Samir Garg2, Nayreen Daruwalla3 and Prathibha Ganesan1 1 Public Health Foundation of India,...
Evidence-based medicine: is it a bridge too far?
Evidence-based medicine: is it a bridge too far? Ana Fernandez et al Health Research Policy and Systems 2015, 13:66 Abstract Aims This paper aims to describe the contextual factors that gave rise to evidence-based medicine (EBM), as well as its controversies and...
Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011–2012
Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011–2012 Sakthivel Selvaraj, Swati Srivastava, Anup Karan BMJ Open 2015 Abstract Objectives The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the pattern of price elasticity of three major tobacco...
Prioritizing action on health inequities in cities: An evaluation of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) in 15 cities from Asia and Africa
Prioritizing action on health inequities in cities: An evaluation of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) in 15 cities from Asia and Africa Amit Prasad et al Social Science and Medicine Abstract Following the recommendations of the Commission...
Aruna Shanbaug and Workplace Safety for Women: The Real Issue Sidestepped.
For those who are interested in looking at women workers in the health sector. Please find attached the following in the current online issue of Indian Journal of Medical Ethics To cite : Nair S. Aruna Shanbaug and workplace safety for women: the real issue...
Women health and nutrition
Dear All, Happy to share a new study on women health and nutrition. 'Breastfeeding, pregnant, and non-breastfeeding nor pregnant women's food consumption: A matched within-household analysis in India', Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (Elsevier), by, Jasmine...
Two Articles on BRICS Health System- WHO Bulletin
Socioeconomic inequalities and mortality trends in BRICS, 1990–2010 Bulletin of the World Health Organization Number 6, June 2014, 385-464 Oscar J Mújica, Enrique Vázquez, Elisabeth C Duarte, Juan J Cortez-Escalante, Joaquin Molina & Jarbas Barbosa da Silva...
Relative Roles of Weather Variables and Change in Human Population in Malaria: Comparison over Different States of India
Relative Roles of Weather Variables and Change in Human Population in Malaria: Comparison over Different States of India Prashant Goswami et al PLOS One 2014 Abstract Background Pro-active and effective control as well as quantitative assessment of impact of climate...