Road map for leadership and management in public health: a case study on noncommunicable diseases program managers' training in Rwanda.

Ministries of Health (MoHs) and health organizations are compelled to work across sectors and build coalitions, strengthening health systems to abate the rise of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). A critical element of NCD prevention and control involves significant and difficult changes in attitudes, policies and protective behavior at the population level. The population-level impact of NCD interventions depends on the strength of the health system that delivers them. In particular, low-resource settings are exploring efficiencies and linkages to existing systems or partnerships in ways that may alleviate redundancies and high delivery costs. These entail complex operational challenges, and can only be spearheaded by a competent and passionate workforce. There is a critical need to develop and strengthen the management and leadership skills of public health professionals so that they can take on the unique challenges of NCD prevention and control. An added component must include a shift from the traditional clinical approach to a community-based effort, focusing heavily on health education and community norm change. Strengthening the work-force capacity of program managers at MoHs and other implementing institutions is key to capturing, analyzing, advocating and communicating information and will, in turn, reinforce the scale-up of interventions fostering a robust health system. This paper summarizes the best practices and lessons learned from the NCD Program Managers short course conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in December, 2016 in Rwanda.

The Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP): strengthening management capacity in a decentralized public health system.

OBJECTIVES: The decentralization of the Philippines' health sector in 1991 sought to improve the efficiency of local health resource allocation; however, local officials were unprepared for the increased responsibility. In 1999 the Philippines Department of Health, with assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), implemented the Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP) to provide local health officials with the managerial skills needed to perform their new, more responsible jobs. This paper addresses whether the FMTP has provided participants with useful managerial skills needed for their more responsible positions. METHODS: The method involved reviewing program outcomes, including results of applied management improvement projects the participants completed to solve managerial problems. RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2010, 294 participants completed the FMTP and many were later promoted to more responsible positions. The participants also completed 204 applied management improvement projects resulting in documented improvements in service delivery, information systems, logistics, health insurance, policy and laboratory outcomes. Examples of their successes are included in this paper. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide compelling evidence that managers are using the skills learned to solve significant managerial problems.

Public health capacity building in southeastern Europe: a partnership between the Open Society Institute and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The political disintegration of former Yugoslavia inaugurated in 1991 resulted in the decentralization of health systems in the federation's successor nation-states. Efforts by the Open Society Institute improved public health planning and management needs consequent to health sector changes. Beginning in Croatia in 2001, the Institute developed ongoing collaborations between Andrija Stampar School of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2003 and 2004, it expanded its project to include the republics of Macedonia and of Serbia and Montenegro.