2015 Articles

The Astronomy of Africa’s Health Systems Literature During the MDG Era: Where Are the Systems Clusters?

Phillips, James S.; Sheff, Mallory; Boyer, Christopher B.

The volume of literature on health systems in sub-Saharan Africa has been expanding since the 2000 MDG era. Focus has remained generally on categorical health themes rather than systems concepts. Topics such as scaling-up, organizational development, data use for decision making, logistics, and financial planning remain underrepresented. And quite surprisingly, implementation science remains something of a “black hole.” But bibliometric evidence suggests there is a shift in focus that may soon address these gaps.