The state of health policy and systems research: Reflections from the 2018 5th global symposium

Abstract

The latest version of this event, the 5th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, took place in Liverpool, UK from 8 to 12 October 2018, and drew 2247 participants from >125 countries—the largest gathering to date of health systems researchers from across the globe. Organized by Health Systems Global (HSG), it took place 40 years after the Alma-Ata Conference on Primary Health Care and 70 years after the creation of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. The conference theme, Advancing Health Systems for All in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Era, was chosen to echo some of the themes that have shaped health system development since Alma-Ata, and to en- able reflection on the achievements and challenges facing health systems in 2018; but also to draw attention to some of the important ways in which the struggle for ‘health for all’ and the context of health system development has changed in these past 40 years.