90 likes | 231 Views
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation African Health Initiative. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Mission. Improving the quality of people's lives through: The performing arts Environmental conservation Medical research The prevention of child maltreatment
E N D
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Mission Improving the quality of people's lives through: • The performing arts • Environmental conservation • Medical research • The prevention of child maltreatment • Preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties
Challenge from Foundation’s Board • Ideas for new grantmaking initiatives • fit within foundation’s general grant making programs, but be “new and catalytic” • In 2007, two $100 million initiatives were launched. • Environment Program - Climate Change Initiative • Medical Research Program - African Health Initiative
African Health Initiative Goal:To help catalyze a shift from the current focus on single disease programs, to an emphasis on strengthening health systemsthat are able to deliver integrated primary care to underserved populations Specific Aims: • Increase the knowledge required for evidence-based health systems planning • Achieve significant, measurable health improvements in up to 6 communities/districts in sub-Saharan Africa • Strengthen health systems in those regions in a manner that enables local and national governments to sustain those improvements
Approach: • Fund up to 6 Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnerships • $8 to $16 million each to support: • Delivery of integrated primary health care to populations of >250,000 • Strengthening of regional health systems • Implementation research to measure what works
Implementation Research • Each PHIT Partnership is expected to design an implementation research plan that includes: • Program evaluation • Economic evaluation and; • Monitoring and operations research. • Implementation Research Framework - developed by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation provides a starting point for applicants.
PHIT Partnership Selection Process September 2007 Call for Letters of Interest February 2008 29 teams invited to submit planning grant proposals October 2008 Awarded 6 month Planning Grants to 11 teams June 2009 Award PHIT Implementation Grants to up to 6 teams
The Challenge: Translating Evidence to Policy • What information is needed? • Within the original country • Before transfer to another country • How to evaluate conflicting evidence? • What happens when evidence conflicts with current accepted practice?
The role of science academies • Sifting all evidence • Analyzing the reasons for disparate results • Looking at context—can one country’s success be transferred across borders? • Challenging projects like this one to produce evidence of maximum utility