Healthcare across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) reaches too few of those in need and does not achieve the best possible results. Resources are limited, so non-specialists provide most treatments.

ASSET NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa brings together surgeons, obstetricians, midwives, psychiatrists, public health dentists, palliative care and general healthcare specialists to work with social scientists, health economists, information technologists and implementation scientists.

We are looking for practical ways, through health system strengthening interventions, to improve the coverage and quality of care.

We are working across three care platforms – surgical care, maternal care and integrated primary healthcare for chronic diseases – in four SSA countries (Ethiopia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe).

Universal Health Coverage, a key Sustainable Development Goal and a core WHO priority, requires investment in stronger and more resilient health systems, better prepared to deliver quality care at scale, leaving no one behind.

ASSET is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa. This award forms part of £120 million funding for Global Health Research.

The ASSET NIHR Unit is led by King’s College London with our partner institutions; Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia); University of Cape Town, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, and University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa); University of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe); College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences and King’s Sierra Leone Partnership (Sierra Leone). Mindwave Ventures is our technology development partner.

Part of the Government’s wider Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) budget, the aim of this research is to improve the health of patients and public in low and middle-income countries.