Événements Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research

Health systems around the world inevitably confront multiple converging global, national and local challenges: from economic crises to environmental disaster; from infectious disease outbreaks and violence to hidden epidemics of mental illness and malnutrition; from rapid urbanization to post-conflict fragility. Today’s top stories – Ebola and failing health systems in West Africa, maternal health, chronic disease, environmental disasters causing thousands of deaths, health care and public health systems facing economic crisis – highlight the convergence of ‘old’ and ‘new’ challenges, and the crucial role of research in understanding and confronting these converging priorities. Health systems must be resilient – able to absorb the shocks and sustain the gains already made – or risk having decades of investment wiped out.