Investing in Health Leaders, Transforming Health Systems

A recent evaluation of ADB’s health operations from 2011–2024 shows that well designed projects—in areas such as primary care strengthening, health security, and digital health—have delivered solid results when paired with strong government ownership and capable country leadership.

The evaluation concluded that progress toward universal health coverage depends on country ownership, robust institutions, and development agendas. It called for deeper focus on systems, integration across sectors, stronger country capacity, and clearer pathways from infrastructure and financing to measurable health outcomes.

It emphasized the need for health leaders who can navigate cross sector collaboration, manage complex reforms, and translate regional knowledge into country specific solutions.

The health leadership course was structured to respond to these findings by translating evaluation lessons into leadership actions.

The ADB Health Leadership Course^[1] blends technical excellence with adaptive leadership, peer learning, and hands on work on country challenges. The course is structured around five core modules: emerging trends in health; health governance, delivery, and financing; pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response; climate change and One Health; and digital health, innovation, and new technologies.

Participants follows a full learning journey—from a virtual session and pre course work on ADB’s e learning platform, to a series of intensive in person attendance with interactive modules, cutting edge topics, peer to peer challenges, and field visits to climate smart, digitally enabled health facilities. Throughout the course, participants deepen their leadership practice in a peer learning community, linking technical depth with real-world systems challenges.

The course brings together senior and emerging leaders from health, finance, social sectors, and other critical ministries, as well as innovators from the private and academic sectors across various developing member countries.

The diversity creates a unique regional forum where a chief medical officer, a digital health entrepreneur, and a finance official can sit at the same table and discuss and design integrated health system solutions.

The course focuses on several distinctive design features. It is multisectoral, anchored on ADB’s independent health evaluation and operational experience, and combines technical content and leadership development. It also creates a durable regional network of alumni who share knowledge, tools, and policy innovations for sustained peer exchange.

The course reflects on five key approaches to transform health systems and improve health outcomes:

• Turn evaluation evidence into leadership action. Evaluation findings highlighted persistent challenges—fragmented governance, implementation bottlenecks, and uneven capacity—that cannot be fixed by finance alone. The ADB Health Leadership Course equips leaders to apply these insights to redesign policies, investments, and institutions.
• Promote a two track model. The evaluation showed a distinctive two track approach: a core health portfolio complemented by a multisector portfolio (where transport, water, urban, climate, and governance operations) to deliver health benefits—supporting health systems and determinants simultaneously, even when health is not a headline sector. Leaders learn to leverage this two track model, using both health and non health operations as levers for universal health coverage, resilience, and equity.
• Integrate infrastructure and finance with systems and leadership strengthening. While infrastructure and long term financing are critical, sustainable outcomes require governance reform, digital integration, and institutional capability (e.g., climate resilience with skills development in negotiation, stakeholder engagement, systems thinking, and strategic communication). The course helps cultivate leaders who make investments work for people, not just for indicators.
• Build a cross sector, cross country community of practice. Participants valued real world case discussions, the chance to step back from crisis mode, and gain support from ADB and global experts to reimagine reforms. The expanded cohort model in Bangkok—which included officials from health and finance ministries, national insurance agencies, climate and urban sectors, academia, and the private sector—supports a growing network that can exchange policy innovations and collaborate during major health reforms or emergence of new health crises.
• Support regional public health goods. The evaluation emphasized flexible, systems oriented approaches that link financing, policy reform, infrastructure, and regional public goods. Evaluation and course modules on health security, climate health links, and cross border collaboration reflect the systems-oriented perspective and integration of solutions.

The ADB Health Leadership Course underscores that sustainable health system reforms depend not only on financing infrastructure, but also on capable, connected national health leaders who can plan, manage, and adapt complex reforms over time.

By strengthening leadership competencies, developing member countries can transform their health systems and promote health system resilience well beyond the next crisis.

The course provides a structured platform for participants to learn, engage with peers, and strengthen their capacity to guide the future of health in Asia and the Pacific.

Note:
The course is made possible by an exceptional team of experts and facilitators. Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon for his vision and leadership, and module leads and coordinators—Dr. Helen Brown, Nansubuga Isdahl, Dr. Jackline Johnson-Idan, Dr. Benjamin Coghlan, William Parr, and Dr. Jasper Tromp—who shared their expertise and practical insights. The support team—Yesle Kim, Ma. Antoinette B. Bihis, Pamela Almario, Ana Chung, and Tibet Srimaneechai—whose behind-the-scenes efforts ensured a seamless learning experience and fostered a vibrant community of health leaders across Asia and the Pacific. Michelle Apostol, Karmela Dua, and Sheela Myla O. Rances contributed to this article.

^[1] Launched in July 2025 during the 1st Inclusive, Sustainable, Prosperous, and Resilient Health Systems in Asia and the Pacific (INSPIRE) Health Forum, the ADB Health Leadership Course brought together 31 health leaders from 14 developing member countries. Sixty three leaders from 19 developing member countries convened in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2026 for its second iteration, which was intentionally aligned with the Prince Mahidol Award Conference, the region’s leading health system conference, giving participants access to global thought leaders and side events that complemented the course’s region focused program, while maximizing opportunities for policy dialogue and networking.

Asian Development Bank. Health in Asia and the Pacific.

ADB. 2022. Strategy 2030 Health Sector Directional Guide: Toward the Achievement of Universal Health Coverage in Asia and the Pacific.