29 October 2012Three CHP researchers - including two young female scientists who received scholarships - will attend the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research from 31 October – 3 November 2012 in Beijing, China.The scholarships for Prudence Ditlopo and Nonhlanhla Nxumalo cover full travel, accommodation and meals. They will join senior researcher, Dr Duane Blaauw, and 1750 researchers, policy makers and other key stakeholders at the conference, which focuses on universal health coverage.Delegates will evaluate progress, share insights and move the science agenda forward to accelerate universal health coverage, while considering the themes of inclusion and innovation.A session organised by Dr Blaauw takes the long view in health systems research and the importance of longitudinal methods, a relatively under-utilised method in low and middle income countries compared to high income countries.“Health system strengthening is necessarily a long-term undertaking. However, health policy and systems research in low- and middle-income countries seldom takes a long term perspective, preferring to describe phenomena in a ‘snap-shot’, short-term way. This session will try to make the case for longitudinal methods using some South African and Thailand examples,” he says.Prudence Ditlopo will give an oral presentation: “Experience of prospective cohort study with professional nurses in South Africa”, while Dr Blaauw will deliver a paper entitled “Longitudinal methods for health systems research in low- and middle-income countries”.Nonhlanhla Nxumalo will present a poster on “Community Health workers link marginalised communities to health services – The complex context of the urban poor” and Ms Ditlopo’s poster is entitled: “How do financial incentives influence the motivation and retention of nurses in South Africa: A case study on the occupational specific dispensation.”