Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug;16(4):279-291.
doi: 10.1007/s11904-019-00449-2.

Making Smarter Decisions Faster: Systems Engineering to Improve the Global Public Health Response to HIV

Anjuli D Wagner  1 , Jonny Crocker  2 , Shan Liu  3 , Peter Cherutich  4 , Sarah Gimbel  2   5 , Quinhas Fernandes  2   6 , Melissa Mugambi  2 , Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir  7 , Sarah Masyuko  2   4 , Bradley H Wagenaar  2 , Ruth Nduati  8 , Kenneth Sherr  2   3   7
Affiliations
Review

Making Smarter Decisions Faster: Systems Engineering to Improve the Global Public Health Response to HIV

Anjuli D Wagner et al. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review offers an operational definition of systems engineering (SE) as applied to public health, reviews applications of SE in the field of HIV, and identifies opportunities and challenges of broader application of SE in global health.

Recent findings: SE involves the deliberate sequencing of three steps: diagnosing a problem, evaluating options using modeling or optimization, and providing actionable recommendations. SE includes diverse tools (from process improvement to mathematical modeling) applied to decisions at various levels (from local staffing decisions to planning national-level roll-out of new interventions). Contextual factors are crucial to effective decision-making, but there are gaps in understanding global decision-making processes. Integrating SE into pre-service training and translating SE tools to be more accessible could increase utilization of SE approaches in global health. SE is a promising, but under-recognized approach to improve public health response to HIV globally.

Keywords: HIV; Implementation science; Public health approach; Systems engineering.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Operational definition of systems engineering approach and tools used for decisionmaking at various levels in global health systems. Across the top, the 3 steps in our operational definition of SE are shown. From left to right, the first column notes data sources to support needs assessment; the second column notes the SE tools and methods for evaluating decision options; and the third column notes the types of decisions that SE can be used to evaluate
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. UNAIDS (2018) Miles to go: closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices. Geneva.
    1. Bowen S, Zwi AB. Pathways to “evidence-informed” policy and practice: a framework for action. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e166 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020166. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Damschroder LJ, Aron DC, Keith RE, Kirsh SR, Alexander JA, Lowery JC. Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: a consolidated framework for advancing implementation science. Implement Sci. 2009;4 10.1186/1748-5908-4-50. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kapiriri L, Norheim OF, Martin DK. Priority setting at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels in Canada, Norway and Uganda. Health Policy (New York). 2007;82:78–94. https://doi.org/10.1016Zj.healthpol.2006.09.001. - PubMed
    1. Schlager KJ. Systems engineering-key to modern development. IRE Trans Eng Manag. 1956;3:64–6.

Publication types