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World map of the 58 countries that as of 2009 had legislation establishing universal health care with over 90% health insurance coverage and skilled birth attendance. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons).

Welcome to the project website for ‘Health Systems in History: Ideas, Comparisons, Policies’

The overarching purpose of this award is to provide an intellectual and policy history of ‘health systems’ thinking. The term implies a holistic conception of the organisational structures within which medicine is financed, provided and regulated in modern states. It depicts these as an interlinked set of relationships, which, once identified and measured, may be modified in the ongoing quest for greater efficiency, effectiveness and equity. But how did this idea arise? What work has it done? And how can we apply it historically? This award aims to find out.

Health Systems in History is a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award based at the Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The Principal Investigator is Dr Martin Gorsky.