Transforming South–South Technical Support to Fight Noncommunicable Diseases

Abstract

At the UN High-Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCD) in September 2011, each member state was challenged to create a multisectoral national policy and plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable disease by 2013. Few low-income countries, however, currently have such plans. Their governments are likely to turn for assistance in drafting and implementation to multilateral agencies and Contract Technical Support Organizations recommended by development partners. Yet because many NCD seen in the lowest-income countries differ significantly from those prevalent elsewhere, existing providers of external technical support may lack the necessary experience to support strategic planning for NCD interventions in these settings. This article reviews currently available mechanisms of technical support for health sector planning. It places them in the broader historical context of post- World War II international development assistance and the more recent campaigns for horizontal "South-South" cooperation and aid effectiveness. It proposes bilateral technical assistance by low income-countries themselves as the natural evolution of development assistance in health. Such programs, it argues, may be able to improve the quality of technical support to low-income countries for strategic planning in the NCD area while directing resources to the regions where they are most needed.

Mapping and Visualization of Cancer Research in Indonesia: A Scientometric Analysis

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“…For Indonesia, there may also be scope to increase South-South partnerships in cancer research, providing opportunities for partner countries to draw on and provide technical resources for researchers while maintaining leadership over the resulting work, aligned with wider efforts to improve responses to non-communicable diseases which includes cancer. 28…”

South-South cooperation as a mechanism to strengthen public health services in Africa: experiences, challenges and a call for concerted action

“…These boosted sustainable and equitable access to health services, including safety nets for the poor whilst reducing out of pocket expenditure. This enabled the country to improve its health services delivery mechanisms as well as provide bilateral technical support to a number of other African countries in the areas of health system strengthening and financing [ 2 ]. To this effect, a Mozambican delegation comprising of officials from the ministries of health, finance and economy, labour and social security undertook a study tour to Rwanda in October 2015 to share experiences and understudy the Rwanda model for financing national health services.…”

“…Implementation of new models of development cooperation has been on the increase lately [ 1 ]. Coupled with this are calls for increased use of horizontal development cooperation mechanisms such as South-South Cooperation (SSC) as a mean to enhance aid effectiveness in the health sector of developing countries [ 2 – 4 ]. The calls are fuelled by the often unfavourable terms of North-South Cooperation (NSC), [ 5 , 6 ] amplified by the need for self-determination, solidarity, sustainable home-grown development and more aid effectiveness among countries of the global south.…”