HSG secretariat on the move …
By Sara Bennett, HSG, Board Chair
When Health Systems Global was established in October 2012, CHIP, the Center for Health and Infectious Disease Research at the University of Copenhagen very kindly agreed to provide a temporary home. During the past few months, we have been seeking to identify a new, and perhaps more permanent, host through an open and competitive call for proposals. This search has now been concluded and I am delighted to announce that the Secretariat for Health Systems Global will be moving at the beginning of March to the Curatio International Foundation in Tbilisi, Georgia.
In our search for a new host, we were looking for an organization with strong strategic and managerial capabilities that knew the health systems field intimately, and would be able to help steer Health Systems Global to a become a stronger, more sustainable and responsive society. Curatio matches these requirements perfectly. It stands out as an extremely professional health systems research and analysis organization that has weathered the test of time, in a sometimes challenging geo-political context. Curatio has partnered with Inis Communication, headquartered in Chiang Mai, Thailand that will spearhead HSG’s communications strategy. This builds on the terrific support they provided HSG and the Global Symposium during 2014. Dr George Gotsadze, Director of Curatio, will become the Executive Director of Health Systems Global. Look out for more blog posts introducing the full team.
Although this was not part of the host selection criteria, we are especially delighted that Health Systems Global will have its feet planted firmly in low- and middle-income countries. Curatio has extensive networks in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union which present fantastic opportunities to expand our presence in this region, where currently we have relatively few members. Inis Communication also provides a direct connection to the Asia Pacific region.
I would particularly like to thank our outgoing Executive Director, Jeff Lazarus, and Ida Sperle who has ably assisted him. Together they have helped to steer Health Systems Global through its formative, and sometimes rather uneven, early years.
Finally, we ask our membership to bear with us while we make this transition. Detailed transition planning is in process… but there will inevitably be some bumps and hiccups as websites, membership databases, mailing lists etc. are transferred. Together, the Board and the new Secretariat have some exciting ideas for Health Systems Global and its support to members, and we look forward to working over the next few months to turn these into reality.
