ArticleHealth research policy and systems2020
Applied systems thinking: a viable approach to identify leverage points for accelerating progress towards ending neglected tropical diseases.
Article in Health research policy and systems, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strengthening national public health institutes: a systematic review on institution building in the public sector.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Socioeconomic and ecological drivers of contagious pig diseases in free-range systems: Evidence from Gwembe Valley, Zambia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Making space for happenstance: a proposal for a different 'Theory of Change' to help understand and guide NTD policymaking practices.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- How social pharmaceutical innovations are addressing problems of availability, accessibility and affordability of drugs for rare diseases.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2025Article
- Using causal loop diagrams to explore the maternal and child health system response to payment for performance in Zambia, and it's generalisability across settings.SSM - health systems · 2025Article
- Enhancing healthy eating and active play in the Australian early childhood education and care system.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Unlocking the blueprint to eliminating neglected tropical diseases: A review of efforts in 50 countries that have eliminated at least 1 NTD.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Review
- A systems thinking approach for examining the turning points in the Finnish public sport policy.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- The Neglected Tropical Disease Non-Governmental Organization Network: The role of a global health network in an evolving global health landscape.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Complex Interventions for a Complex System? Using Systems Thinking to Explore Ways to Address Unhealthy Commodity Industry Influence on Public Health Policy.International journal of health policy and management · 2024Article
- Building a Systems Map: Applying Systems Thinking to Unhealthy Commodity Industry Influence on Public Health Policy.International journal of health policy and management · 2024Article
- DiScO: novel rapid systems mapping to inform digital transformation of health systems.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Teaching Systems Thinking as a Foundational Public Health Competency Can Be Improved.American journal of public health · 2023Article
- Healthcare Policies to Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in India: A Roadmap.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- High Level of Knowledge about Tungiasis but Little Translation into Control Practices in Karamoja, Northeastern Uganda.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Article
- Mixed-methods evaluation of integrating female genital schistosomiasis management within primary healthcare: a pilot intervention in Ogun State, Nigeria.International health · 2023Article
- Development of the Systems Thinking for Health Actions framework: a literature review and a case study.BMJ global health · 2023Review
- An analysis of actors participating in the design and implementation of workplace breastfeeding interventions in Mexico using the NetMap analysis approach.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Kailo: a systemic approach to addressing the social determinants of young people's mental health and wellbeing at the local level.Wellcome open research · 2023Article
- How to do (or not to do)…using causal loop diagrams for health system research in low and middle-income settings.Health policy and planning · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSystems thinking is a conceptual approach that can assist stakeholders in understanding complexity and making progress on persistent public health challenges. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a complex global health problem, are responsible for a large disease burden among impoverished populations around the world. This aim of this study was to better discern the many complexities of the global NTD system in order to identify and act on leverage points to catalyse progress towards ending NTDs.
methodsExisting frameworks for systems change were adapted to form the conceptual framework for the study. Using a semi-structured interview guide, key informant interviews were conducted with NTD stakeholders at the global level and at the country level in Nigeria. The interview data were coded and analysed to create causal loop diagrams that resulted in a qualitative model of the global NTD system.
resultsThe complete qualitative model is discussed and presented visually as six separate sub-components that highlight key forces and feedback loops within the global NTD system.
conclusionsWe identified five leverage points for NTD system change, namely (1) clarify the potential for and assess realistic progress towards NTD elimination, (2) increase support for interventions besides drug delivery, (3) reduce dependency on international donors, (4) create a less insular culture within the global NTD community, and (5) systemically address the issue of health worker incentives. The specific findings for NTDs raise a number of uncomfortable questions that have not been addressed, at least in part, because it is easier to continue focusing on 'quick win' solutions. The study provides a model of a systems thinking approach that can be applied to other complex global health and development challenges in order to understand complexity and identify leverage points for system change.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.