Welcome to the Department of Health Policy, Planning and Management (HPPM). We take this opportunity to take you through what we do here!
The HPPM department runs regular courses in Public Health Policy, Health Planning and Management, Health Economics and Finance, Primary Health Care, and Health Systems Management for graduate students. HPPM also co-ordinates the two-year full time MPH training programme implemented as part of the Public Health Schools Without Walls (PHSWOW) initiative.
Together with other PHSWOW programmes (Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Vietnam), the Ugandan PHSWOW program is an active member of the Training in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in the area of Health Systems are offered on demand. The Department participates in teaching medical students (Health Policy and Management) during their rotation at MakSPH and Kasangati Health Centre.
HPPM runs short courses on demand for districts and other health agencies in planning and budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, personnel management, hospital management, health systems management and public health leadership.
Research is a key component of HPPM activities and includes projects done by individual faculty members as well as broader institutional projects. Current major research includes projects in collaboration with various universities in Africa, USA and Europe. Key research partners of the Department have included Johns Hopkins University, WHO, UNICEF, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Institute (University of Leeds), University of Bologna, Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp), the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, University of Liverpool, and Karolinska Institute. These projects cover health policy evaluation and health sector reforms including; performance based contracting with private not-for profit sector, hospital autonomy, human resources for health, NGOs and health, evaluation of integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI), impact of health reforms on equity, impact of decentralization on reproductive health, home management of fever and pneumonia among others. Funding for these projects has been provided by the World Bank, DfID, WHO, UNICEF, European Union, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Sida/SAREC and others.
Departmental staff members also offer services on consultancy basis, in addition to getting involved in other community service activities. The department has worked with other partners like the Ministry of Health, Health Communication Partnership of the Johns Hopkins University of USA and Family Health International to disseminate facts about Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) for HIV Prevention.