From a declaration of values to the creation of value in global health: A report from Harvard University's Global Health Delivery Project

Abstract

To make best use of the new dollars available for the treatment of disease in resource-poor settings, global health practice requires a strategic approach that emphasises value for patients. Practitioners and global health academics should seek to identify and elaborate the set of factors that drives value for patients through the detailed study of actual care delivery organisations in multiple settings. Several frameworks can facilitate this study, including the care delivery value chain. We report on our efforts to catalyse the study of health care delivery in resource-limited settings in the hope that this inquiry will lead to insights that can improve the health of the neediest worldwide.

Keywords:

• global health
• value in global health
• global health delivery
• values in healthcare
• delivery

Notes

1. Both Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights of Harvard University have been founding partners and have provided invaluable intellectual, financial and technical support at all stages of development of this initiative.

2. Note that this framework also provides a systematic tool to guide narrower process improvement efforts at the intervention level.