Dr. Francisco Songane, Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and ex-Minister of Health from Mozambique, joined a debate with the Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Department for International Development (DFID), and Fareed Abdullah, Director of Technical Support at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, on the topic ‘Meeting our promises on health in poor countries: quick wins versus strengthening health systems’.
The debate was held at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and was chaired by the Dean of the School, Professor Andy Haines.
All panel members agreed that there was a clear need to strengthen health systems, but in a coordinated way that did not over-burden administration systems. Dr. Songane spoke about his experience as Minister of Health in Mozambique and recalled how much of his time had been taken up complying with different donor-report formats and accompanying donor representatives in country, rather than working on the health issues that mattered.
