By Commissioner Alexander Rowe
The first meeting of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era got off to a strong start. I was impressed by the expertise, diversity, and energy of the Commissioners, Commission Advisory Council members, researchers, and support staff. As I looked around the room, I saw senior policy-makers (including the former Minister of Health of Nigeria), epidemiologists, program specialists, measurement experts, modelers, and ethicists from over a dozen countries. We were greeted by a message of encouragement from the First Lady of Kenya.break
What’s our purpose? As we enter the era of the Sustainable Development Goals, I think the Commission’s fundamental objectives are to provide: 1) practical, evidence-based guidance on how to improve the quality of health services in low- and middle-income countries; and 2) information that underscores the importance of improving healthcare quality that can be used to advocate for resources, make this issue a priority at the country level, and generate enthusiasm for efforts to be made.