Reforming Health Systems: Using Data to Improve Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Graduate / Professional

Health systems in low- and middle-income countries are in constant flux in the face of myriad pressures and demands, including those emanating from the current COVID-19 pandemic. Under such conditions, how can senior country officials and their international partners make the best decisions to reform health systems to achieve universal coverage and improve the allocation and use of resources to maximize health gains, including on scale-up of programs to fight infectious diseases and address other health problems? The course provides students with a thorough understanding of health systems, health reforms, and scaling up—their components, performance, and impacts—by teaching the key tools and data sources needed to assess options and make coherent and effective policy and financing choices. Using these frameworks, students analyze case examples of major country reforms and of scaling up of national disease programs (e.g., AIDS treatment, immunization, safe motherhood, mental health services, cardiovascular illness prevention, etc.) and prepare a paper applying what they have learned to real-world health systems challenges. This course is open to all Yale students with interest in the topic. A knowledge of global health, health policy, and health economics and financing is desirable but not required. Th 10am-11:50am