The sixth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2020) started on Sunday with the aim of analysing professional development and leadership in the healthcare sector in the country. Hosted by the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), the event is scheduled to run throughout the week. During the initial sessions of the event, education, health security and reimagining research were the key issues discussed by the participants.

The global symposium is an annual event that attracts healthcare policymakers and experts from across the world. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, this year's symposium is being conducted virtually for the first time and is focused on the global response against the pandemic.

Dr. Ali Bin Sebaa Al Marri, Executive President of MBRSG, said that this is the first year that the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research is being held remotely. However, he expressed delight that the virtual symposium also garnered great success in participation from healthcare professionals from across the globe. Dr Al Marri explained that during the first two days of the symposium, several power-packed programmes took place including skill-building activities, parallel sessions, plenaries, special panels, and networking. All these activities were conducted by a wide range of distinguished speakers and participants from various countries who are experts in the field of health policymaking.

During the opening day of the symposium, a session on ‘Building capacities to address multi-sectoral challenges in health: Transforming the roles and experiences of educators and policymakers Health Systems and Policy Research’ took place which was moderated by Dr Gina Teddy, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in Ghana.

During the session, contributors shared their experiences, processes, and results of interactive teaching and learning approaches that were conducted after thorough examinations and assessments of an array of professional development programs.

The session saw a number of contributors including, Professor Lucy Gilson from the Health Policy Division, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, the University of Cape Town in South Africa; Dr. Dina Balabanova from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK; Dr.Zulkarnain Abdul Karim from the Centre for Health Services Research, Institute for Health Systems Research in Malaysia; Dr.MeikeSchleiff from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States; Dr. Ayat Abu-Agla from the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin in Ireland; and Professor Anthony Zwi from Global Health and Development, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

On Monday, the symposium saw the first of two key sessions on ‘All Together – Stronger Health Systems for UHC and Health Security’ hosted by Julia Sallaku who is a Technical Officer with the World Health Organisation (WHO). During the session, contributors explored various ways of strengthening the healthcare systems in a bid to handle future medical shocks while taking the ongoing experience in the fight against COVID-19 into consideration. The session concluded with the key message that the foundation for both addressing health issues and health security is collective action to reinforce the global healthcare systems, particularly by investing in ‘common goods’ for healthcare of people across the world.

The session saw expert contributors including Dr. Agnes Soucat, Director of Department Health Systems Governance and Financing at WHO; Craig Burgess, Health Data Collaborative secretariat (WHO); Dr KhuấtThịHảiOanh, Executive Director at Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives in Vietnam; Beth Tritter, Executive Director Primary Healthcare Performance Initiative in the USA; and Professor Soonman Kwon at School of Public Health in Seoul National University in South Korea).

Another session took place on Monday titled: ‘Where is the local voice in academic global health? Reimagining how we produce and consume research', which was moderated by Dr. Jim Ricca from Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organisation affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.

WAM