Manjul Joshipura, AO Alliance board member, has co-authored a paper on the policy perspective of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. This publication shows the roadmap to developing a policy framework for countries seeking to improve MSK health.
Summary of findings
- A global strategic response to improve MSK health is strongly supported by multisectoral stakeholders.
- National-level policy guidance is nascent, substantiating the need for global-level guidance in health systems strengthening.
- Priority areas for action align with intuitive foci of the WHO Health System Building Blocks.
What do the new findings imply?
The proposed framework can be used as a blueprint by global agencies, such as the WHO and others, to guide countries in formulating responses to address the burden of MSK health impairment. Given the scope for development of national health policy on MSK health, the framework is timely and strongly supported. Individual countries can adapt the framework to suit local contexts; this may be particularly useful for low-income settings where systems strengthening responses for MSK health are less developed and less prioritised.
Read the full paper here.
Reference: Briggs AM, Huckel Schneider C, Slater H, et al. Health systems strengthening to arrest the global disability burden: empirical development of prioritised components for a global strategy for improving musculoskeletal health. BMJ Global Health 2021;6:e006045. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006045