Health Systems Trust (HST) is set to release two of its major publications in the next week. The South African Health Review (SAHR) and the District Health Barometer (DHB) are highly renowned annual publications of Health Systems Trust.
The SAHR produced annually since 1995, provides a South African perspective on prevailing local and international public health issues. The SAHR has rapidly become a flagship product that is widely read, used and quoted as an authoritative reference work in South Africa and abroad. The purpose of the SAHR is to assess and highlight progress in key areas of the national health system, to assess policy implementation and to make recommendations. It provides a combination of detailed information on health status and health care coupled with in-depth analysis of policies and practices affecting the provision of health services.
The DHB on the other hand, is a tool through which managers in the health sector can monitor and evaluate not only trends in health status and service delivery but also the underlying quality of routinely collected health information in South Africa. It illustrates important aspects of the health system at district level through an analysis of a selected range of health indicators. Data feeding into the report are drawn from a range of sources including the National Department of Health, Statistics SA and the National Treasury. It is the only publication of its kind in South Africa that makes available comparative data for the purpose of measuring and tracking progress in delivering primary health care services at district level.
An official launch of both the SAHR and the DHB has been planned for the morning of Thursday 23 February 2012 in Pretoria. Guest speakers include the Honourable Minster of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi as well as other leading public health figures such as Professor Laetitia Rispel and Dr Tim Wilson. A summary of the results of the National Facilities Audit will also be presented which will be followed by the announcement of the Facility Improvement Teams by the National Department of Health. A press conference has been scheduled for 12h00.
Click here for more information which will then take you to the invitation and the programme.