Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 94, Number 7, July 2016, 481-556
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/94/7/en/

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EDITORIALS
Creating a supportive legal environment for universal health coverage
David Clarke, Dheepa Rajan & Gerard Schmets
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.173591
[Initial text]
In this edition of the Bulletin, Marks-Sultan et al.1 propose that the World Health Organization (WHO) should provide capacity-building for drafting health laws in Member States. They highlight that WHO has the authority and credibility to work with countries to make their national laws easier to access, understand, monitor and evaluate. WHO’s new technical support work related to universal health coverage (UHC) laws is a good example of its support for Member States in this important area.
Strengthening countries’ legal and regulatory frameworks and engaging in universal health coverage-compliant law reforms has been missing from the universal health coverage agenda. WHO calls on Member States to align their health system policies with universal health coverage goals such as equity, efficiency, health service quality and financial risk protection. Strengthening health systems using health laws and legal frameworks is a pivotal means for attaining these goals2 and achieving sustainable results in health security and resilience…

EDITORIALS
Improving reporting of health estimates
Gretchen A Stevens, Daniel R Hogan & Ties Boerma
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.179259

RESEARCH
Health policy and systems research training: global status and recommendations for action
Tara M Tancred, Meike Schleiff, David H Peters & Dina Balabanova
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.162818
Objective
To investigate the characteristics of health policy and systems research training globally and to identify recommendations for improvement and expansion.
Methods
We identified institutions offering health policy and systems research training worldwide. In 2014, we recruited participants from identified institutions for an online survey on the characteristics of the institutions and the courses given. Survey findings were explored during in-depth interviews with selected key informants.
Findings
The study identified several important gaps in health policy and systems research training. There were few courses in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa or Latin America. Most (116/152) courses were instructed in English. Institutional support for courses was often lacking and many institutions lacked the critical mass of trained individuals needed to support doctoral and postdoctoral students. There was little consistency between institutions in definitions of the competencies required for health policy and systems research. Collaboration across disciplines to provide the range of methodological perspectives the subject requires was insufficient. Moreover, the lack of alternatives to on-site teaching may preclude certain student audiences such as policy-makers.
Conclusion
Training in health policy and systems research is important to improve local capacity to conduct quality research in this field. We provide six recommendations to improve the content, accessibility and reach of training. First, create a repository of information on courses. Second, establish networks to support training. Third, define competencies in health policy and systems research. Fourth, encourage multidisciplinary collaboration. Fifth, expand the geographical and language coverage of courses. Finally, consider alternative teaching formats.

PERSPECTIVES
Research capacity for sexual and reproductive health and rights
Rita Kabra, Moazzam Ali, A Metin Gulmezoglu & Lale Say
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.163261
[Initial text]
Research is important for improving health outcomes and is a critical element of a functioning health system. Without locally generated data and analysis, well-intentioned programmes do not often respond to the realities where they are implemented.1 Hence strengthening research capacity in low-and middle-income countries is one of the most powerful, cost–effective and sustainable measures of advancing health, health care and development.2
The world health report 2013: research for universal health coverage referred to research capacity as “the abilities of individuals, institutions and networks, nationally and internationally, to undertake and disseminate research findings of the highest quality”.3 The report provides examples of efforts that build research capacity by national and international agencies focusing on the particular element of capacity building. However, best results in capacity building are obtained when there are interactions between individuals, institutions and networks to support research. For example, graduate and postgraduate training are more likely to be effective when the host institutions are also strong.3
Since 1990 the number of initiatives on strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries has increased to over 300.4 However, in many countries there is still insufficient capacity to engage in research that will influence evidence-based policies and programming at country level.5 Lack of funding, expertise in preparing manuscripts for publication6 and protected time for research pursuits, as well as the infrastructure of institutions, are key constraints faced by researchers.7…