The Lancet Series on Integration Science

As global health funding continues to contract, a new four-paper series being prepared for publication in The Lancet will offer integration science as a tool for unlocking significant gains in health equity worldwide.

Fifty-two authors from 17 countries are writing the papers. These experts represent a range of organizations worldwide and include academics, ministry officials, and people with lived experience from across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Led by the NCDI Poverty Network’s co-chairs—Dr. Gene Bukhman, founding director of the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Dr. Ana Mocumbi, an associate professor at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane—the series will present both the theoretical framework and real-world applications of integration science for global health equity.

This relatively new field offers a systematic approach to increasing the resources available to the world’s poorest people across steep gradients of inequality. Integration science accomplishes this goal by aligning health workforce capabilities and clinical pathways with the needs and shared experiences of those directly affected by disease.

“We’re seeing countries independently moving toward integrated care delivery out of necessity, but these efforts are often fragmented and narrow,” said Dr. Bukhman, lead author of the series and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. “Integration science provides a data-driven methodology to make these efforts more comprehensive and effective. And, when you combine integrated delivery models with integrated social movements, you create the conditions for real progress in global health equity.”

The research captured in the series draws from a dataset of more than 5,000 patient observations in dozens of healthcare facilities across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Through extensive patient shadowing and direct observation, researchers have documented the details of clinical resources, competencies, and care pathways that form the foundation for integration science applications.

“Integration science offers a path forward for low- and lower-middle-income countries grappling with growing disease burdens and constrained resources,” said Dr. Mocumbi, who also serves as chief of the Non-Communicable Diseases Division of the Mozambique National Institute of Health. “By harnessing integrated delivery models and integrated social movements, this approach can help countries achieve effective, equitable health service delivery systems that provide lifesaving care for even the poorest people.”