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Our Projects and Programs

CSIH has established a solid reputation as an efficient and effective manager of projects funded bilaterally (CIDA), multilaterally (World Bank), and internationally (Pan American Health Organization, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Industry Canada) in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. Each of these projects contributes directly to an overall program that emphasizes capacity building for health systems reform. CSIH has been commended for managing its projects in a manner that has promoted and enabled trust building and cooperation between the agencies and countries involved.

CSIH's International Youth Health Internships program has placed over 200 young Canadian professionals in more than 80 countries since September 1997, thereby building strong ties with private and public sector organizations working in international health.

CSIH hosts an annual conference on international health and offers an on-line International Health Registry for professionals seeking employment and volunteer opportunities in health and development.

Overview of CSIH Projects and Programs

Croatia: 2001, CSIH began a Health System Project titled Health Surveys and National Health Promotion for the Republic of Croatia. This project is part of a much larger Croatian Health Systems reform project funded by the World Bank.  The Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) won an international competition to provide technical assistance to Croatia (1) to undertake a national, regionwide public health survey that would cover both adults and children; (2) to develop a health promotion unit in the National Institute for Public
Health; (3) to implement training workshops and courses for a variety of target groups; (4) to develop a reference library; and (5) to assess existing communications materials (electronic and print) and to develop a national healthy lifestyles campaign. The focus of all the activities is cardio-vascular disease and the contributing risk factors.  Croatian
consultants have been engaged to work on each of these activities in cooperation with Canadian counterparts. 

In September 1999, the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) was selected by the Government of Croatia and the World Bank to implement two components of the World Bank funded project following a rigorous international competitive bidding process. The main two areas for which CSIH provided a team of experts (international and national) were the categorization of hospital and other secondary-care facilities, and human resources for health information system management. CSIH successfully completed these projects in 1999.

Contact for Croatia project: Paulette Schatz

Philippines: The Society has just begun implementing a 30-month project, funded by CIDA’s Partnership Branch, in the Philippines province of Capiz. The Strengthening Local Capacity for Health Equity Reform project will contribute to strengthened capacity for resource allocation decision-making for equitable health care services, planning and delivery at a decentralized level in the Philippines.   CSIH, together with its local partner, the Gerry Roxas Foundation, are intending to utilize this project to complement the Philippines government Health Sector Reform Agenda (HSRA).  HSRA was started in 1999 to introduce major changes in policies, public investments and organizational structures to address inequities in the provision, regulation and financing of health services, and in resource allocation decisions.  

View Philippines website!
Contact for Philippines project: Lori Jones
 

Mali: A partnership consisting of CSIH, CARE Canada, and the Unité de Santé Internationale at University of Montreal was selected by CIDA to undertake an overview study of the health systems in two districts in Mali (Ségou and Kayes). This is the first of three competitive health projects that CIDA will post for Mali.

Contact for Mali project: Lori Jones


Guyana: Following a competitive bid process, CSIH was recently selected by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to design and implement a large national-level HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis surveillance, prevention, control, and care project in Guyana. This project proposes to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Guyana to (a) better manage, deliver and monitor disease prevention and control programs in the areas of STDs/HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and (b) effectively plan, manage, and evaluate health care services. Anticipated results of this project include (i) improved national program for the prevention and control of STDs/HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and (ii) strengthened health information systems. The underlying strategy will be to seek improved processes in Guyana to heighten political commitment, increase knowledge, and improve systems and programs for addressing the key health priorities. In undertaking this project, CSIH will collaborate closely with the Canadian Red Cross, and will work with a broad range of Canadian and Guyanese organizations, including community-based organizations.

View Guyana website!
Contact for Guyana project: Roumyana Benedict


South Caucasus: Following upon the success of the Trans Caucasus Health Information Project, CSIH is currently implementing phase two of a project that seeks to strengthen health reform in the South Caucasus countries through the appropriate application of health information technology and information management strategies.

An important factor in the governance and delivery of health services is rational and functioning health information systems. In the long run, the impact resulting from the achievement of the project objectives will be health information systems developed to support greater equity and accountability in the health sector, and improved health outcomes in the South Caucasus. The South Caucasus Health Information Project officially began in September 2001, and will continue until February 2005.

View South Caucasus website!
Contact for South Caucasus project: Eva Slawecki


Russia: CSIH was selected, together with Hickling Corporation, to monitor and evaluate six CIDA-funded health sector projects in Russia. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the anticipated results of these six projects have been or are being achieved, and to guide the development of CIDA's health strategy for the region.

Contact for Russia project: Lori Jones


Ukraine: The Society began working in Ukraine in 1993 with the successful Partners in Health project. The Partners in Health project was originally funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and later by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for $5 million, which included $2.2 million in in-kind contributions. The goal was to contribute to capacity development of health sector organizations ranging from the ministry level to NGOs in health sector reform. The partnerships involved 19 partners in Canada and 20 in Ukraine.

A second project, Youth for Health, began in 1998 and ended in 2002.  With CIDA providing funding, and an additional $1 million in-kind, the four-year project worked with seven Ukrainian partners and focused on promoting health among youth through healthy living, AIDS prevention, smoking cessation, and the reduction of drug and alcohol abuse.  Youth for Health developed a model for youth health promotion in Kyiv.

CSIH launched the Youth for Health II Project following the success of the first phase of the project.  The Youth for Health II project was launched in 2003 to adapt the original model at the local level in two regions in Ukraine, focusing on the key issues of smoking cessation, drug and alcohol harm reduction, nutrition and mental health.  CSIH and its Ukrainian partner the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research have been instrumental in creating and a National Youth Health Promotion Centre.  This centre supports the adaptation of the model, has created a national action plan for youth health promotion and supports work in the regions.

View Ukraine website!
Contact for Ukraine project: Paulette Schatz


Bolivia:
The goal of the four-year “Building Capacity for Health Reform” project is to support the Bolivian Ministry of Health and Social Services in development of its reformed health system by validating the integrated management model in the Ministry’s Strategic Health Plan.
The project supports the Bolivian government’s efforts to improve the health and well-being of Bolivians through reform of the health system. It involves partnerships between Canadian and Bolivian institutions to develop and strengthen regional and local capacity in health service networks, health management, and primary health care, with a focus on a basic health insurance package, on health management, and public and community health. The project is developing capacities at both community and institutional levels for planning, organizational management and governance of a reformed, decentralized health system. It works to ensure the capacity of communities to participate in health system governance – participation that is assured through Bolivian law. The project is pilot testing new approaches and models in two Bolivian municipalities: San Lorenzo, Department of Tarija, and Guayaramerin, Department of Beni. Thus far, the project has succeeded in improving management and accessibility of health programs, governance of health institutions and the functioning of systems in the two pilot districts, as well as having the districts declare themselves Health Municipalities – the first in Bolivia. It has also been instrumental in improving planning processes at the departmental level.

View Bolivia website!
Contact for Bolivia project: Janet Hatcher Roberts


Trans Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia): The two-year Trans Caucasus Health Information Project (TCHIP), managed by the Canadian Society for International Health, began March 31, 1999. It is assisting in the development of sustainable health information systems in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – the South Caucasus region. The project's goal is to assist Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to develop the capacity to support an inter-country health information network. The project will also build capacity to collect health information consistent with World Health Organization and international standards, assist in human resource development in the health sector, and support gender equality through the integration of gender equity concerns into project activities. The health ministries in the three countries are collaborating with the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) and the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Euro) in this project.

View Trans Caucasus Final Report!
Contact for Trans Caucasus project: Eva Slawecki


Armenia: The Health Administration Training Program was managed by CSIH from May 1996 to June 1998. Its objectives were to assist in capacity-development among local health care officials in Armenia and to develop health reform initiatives in the Trans-Caucasus region through collaboration with donor agencies.

Contact for Armenia project: Paulette Schatz

Canada Southeast Asia Regional HIV/AIDS Program (CSEARHAP)
CSEARHAP seeks to strengthen the national response of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao PDR to reduce male and female mobile populations’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, in a regionally-coordinated and gender-sensitive manner. The project is a joint venture among CARE, PATH Canada and the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH). It takes a two-pronged approach: (i) by supporting the implementation of the UN Regional Taskforce’s Strategy on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion, and (ii) by building complementary and coherent capacity in the four project countries to develop and implement national workplans that will address the issues related to mobility and HIV/AIDS. The nature of mobile population vulnerability requires a regional strategy with strong coordination and collaboration among and between the four project countries, as well as across different sectors within each country (including, but not limited to Health, Social Services, Transportation, Education, Agriculture, Immigration, and Labour). Successes and lessons learned in each country will be shared through the Taskforce and other key regional meetings, and will form case studies for regional training and capacity building activities. Areas of synergy across national efforts will be highlighted, to facilitate their implementation more widely across the region, taking cultural, political and economic contexts into account.

This project receives funding from the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Contact for CSEARHAP project: Lori Jones
 

International Health Youth Internships Program:
As part of the Society’s International Health Youth Internships Program, 155 young Canadians have been placed as interns for six to nine months with host organizations in the private, public and non-governmental sectors in more than 75 countries since June 1997. Areas of specialization include public health, nursing, health administration, health economics, international health, social sciences, bio-ethics, nutrition, dentistry and medicine. Starting in 2000, CSIH began sending interns to assist health organizations in the use of information technology, as a member of the NetCorps Canada coalition of volunteer-sending agencies supported by Industry Canada. The Youth Internships Program has also received funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The program offers an excellent opportunity to Canada’s future leaders in the health sector to benefit from significant professional development, thus strengthening their employability. The program’s benefits for CSIH are not financial but can be measured in terms of long-term investment in the young international health players of tomorrow and their awareness of global health issues.

View Internships website!
Contact for Internships Program: Ron Elliott


Small Grants: In addition to large development projects, CSIH also manages several Small Grants Programs.


HIV/AIDS Phase I
In April 2000, CSIH was selected by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to coordinate the international conference to launch CIDA’s HIV/AIDS Action Plan implement and to manage a new HIV/AIDS Small Grants Program related to this Action Plan. The Small Grants Program encouraged new or emerging partnerships between Canadian organisations and those in developing countries or countries-in-transition to address local HIV/AIDS priority issues. More than 100 proposals were received, from which 12 were selected for funding.

View HIV/AIDS Phase I website!
Contact for HIV/AIDS (Phase I) project: Lori Jones


HIV/AIDS Phase II
CSIH is currently managing a second phase of this Small Grants Program, which provides further funding for the establishment of partnerships and capacity building among partner organizations. This phase of the Small Grants Program includes a capacity building component that seeks to provide management and institutional training and support to grant recipients and their partner organizations. Almost 100 proposals were received, from which 17 were selected for funding.

View HIV/AIDS Phase II website!
Contact for HIV/AIDS (Phase II) project: Lori Jones


Partnership for Global Health Equity Phase I
CSIH is also currently managing a Small Grants Fund for the Partnership for Global Health Equity, a multi-institution collaborative effort housed at the International Development Research Centre. The Partnership has parallel goals: (1) to explore the range of Canadian and developing country research collaboration around global health issues; and (2) to explore the processes and challenges involved in building mutually respectful and beneficial research partnerships. The Partnership aims to fund health-related research whose current theme, approach, and/or partnerships do not readily fit under already existing funding frameworks. In this way, it hopes to identify some of the current gaps in health research funding and begin to explore mechanisms to increase available resources. The emphasis is on promoting innovative, equity-oriented health research activities. The purpose of the grant is to provide small amounts of seed money for initiatives related to health equity that normally would not find funding from other donors. One hundred and eighty-one proposals were received, and 17 were selected for funding.

View Global Health Equity website!
Contact for Global Health Equity project: Lori Jones

 

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