Making the most of the money? Strengthening health systems through AIDS responses

Nel Druce and Clare Dickinson, July 2008

This paper discusses how AIDS funding can be used to leverage broader health systems improvements as well as better HIV, AIDS and health outcomes. The UN General Assembly and others have recognised the need to address health systems strengthening, and major funding initiatives such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria are increasing resources for this purpose.

However, despite growing consensus about the opportunities and need to use disease-specific funding to strengthen health systems, evidence about how this can be done remains limited. Based on experience at country level, and on HLSP’s approach to health systems development, this paper presents good practice principles to support health systems strengthening. In addition to harmonisation and alignment efforts, these include: building the health sector response to HIV as a whole; investing in a common understanding of health systems among all stakeholders; and the need for effective technical support.