About us
About the Alliance
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (the Alliance) supports the generation and use of health policy and systems research to strengthen health systems and address social determinants of health to contribute to significant progress in reducing health inequities and achieving major global health targets. As a partnership hosted by the World Health Organization, we:
Generate new and impactful knowledge with national policy-makers, researchers and communities to address national and subnational health challenges | Strengthen national and regional institutions to improve policy and implementation through research and learning | Advocate for how health policy and systems research can address global health challenges |
We focus on five major thematic areas that health policy and systems research can make a unique contribution to improving health and health equity:
- reforming health systems and services to achieve universal health coverage through a primary health care approach;
- improving health through digital transformation;
- preventing premature death and disability by tackling the risks and determinants of noncommunicable diseases;
- building health systems resilience and realizing co-benefits in response to the climate crisis;
- applying a systems approach to health emergency preparedness and response.
Throughout all our work, we prioritize and promote systems thinking, which recognizes that the whole of the system is more than its constituent parts. We also recognize the need to engage diverse actors and improve equity – we target our support to ensure better inclusion of and participation by women, those in low- and middle-income countries and other historically underrepresented groups.
History of the Alliance
The Alliance was founded in 1997 following a recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options. It became a hosted partnership of at World Health Organization Headquarters a few years later. It has grown from a team of three to around 15 staff managing around 18 programmes and more than 40 grants a year.
Governance
Funders
The Alliance has a mix of core funders and specified project funders.
Key Alliance documents
23 April 2024
Aiming for impact
The vision of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (the Alliance) is a world where health policy and systems research contributes to significant...
24 April 2023
2022 annual report
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research worked in 2022 to broaden its horizons beyond traditional conceptions of health systems to consider...