Publications
HST provides free electronic access to over 500 health systems research related reports, publications and papers. Close to 300 of these are publications that have been commissioned and funded by the Trust. Topics include among others district systems development, drug supply management, human resource development, informatics, legislation, finance, environmental health, mental health, lessons learnt, nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases / HIV/AIDS. The main publication of the HST is the annual South African Health Review. From 2005 all HST publications will be available in low resolution only. To explore the range of publications HST offers use the Advanced search to search using a variety of criteria.

This would include prescribing in a safe and effective manner, management of clinic stock and dispensing of drugs. The need to improve drug use among these staff, largely nurses, was identified at national and district level in late 1995. The project began in early 1996 with the directive to improve drug use at facility-level. Needs assessments, development and initial implementation of the project took place in 1996, but it was during 1997 that the training programme was implemented widely.

The Rational Drug Use Training Project is funded by Health Systems Trust. Initial implementation ef forts were largely made in KwaZulu-Natal. With the advent of the Initiative for Sub-District Support in late 1996, the project was invited to a number of sites that had identified drug use as a problem. Implementation in each site has differed and the success of the initial visits has varied considerably. On the other hand, many factors influencing drug use are consistent throughout all the sites visited. A summary of the sites visited, highlighting the lessons learnt from them, and the possible application of these lessons to future training sites, will follow.