"Working with Partners" from Partners In Health's Program Management Guide
Last month, we hosted “Strengthening Health Systems: The Role of NGOs,” a virtual Expert Panel discussion on GHDonline.org with Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Minister of Health of Rwanda, and practitioners from The Access Project, Health Alliance International, Partners In Health, and Tiyatien Health. We were delighted to see more than 100 contributions from over 50 participants, and were thrilled to have over 400 people from 64 countries sign up and follow the discussion.
Throughout the discussion, Dr. Binagwaho stressed the importance of leadership and planning at the national level: “First and foremost in the health sector is the process of developing a national vision, one that all policies of the Ministry and its NGO partners follow from. It is important for the Ministry of Health to have zero tolerance for any plan other than the national strategic plan for the country.” Dr. Binagwaho also pointed out that it’s ok to say “no” to partnerships that wouldn’t further the country’s goal for its citizens, “In Rwanda, we are always ready to kindly accompany NGOs to the airport when they are not willing to work with us towards our vision and our plan.”
Joaquin Blaya, PhD, co-founder and CIO of eHealth Systems, a Chilean company that offers eHealth strategies and open source solutions to companies, and a
