Publications
HST provides free electronic access to over 500 health systems research related reports, publications and papers. Close to 300 of these are publications that have been commissioned and funded by the Trust. Topics include among others district systems development, drug supply management, human resource development, informatics, legislation, finance, environmental health, mental health, lessons learnt, nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases / HIV/AIDS. The main publication of the HST is the annual South African Health Review. From 2005 all HST publications will be available in low resolution only. To explore the range of publications HST offers use the Advanced search to search using a variety of criteria.

The health component of the ISRDP, the Rural District Health Support Programme (RDHSP), funded by the European Union in terms of tender RT 1397 GP, focuses on district health systems development, primary health care and improvement of quality of care. The District Health System (DHS) is the vehicle for the delivery of Primary Health Care (PHC).

The main goals of the RDHSP are:

• To assist the district and local municipalities within the thirteen nodal sites to establish relevant management and administration capacity in the delivery of good quality Primary Health Care Services (Part A of the tender, awarded to the Health Systems Trust/Initiative for Sub-District Support)
• To assist with the development and implementation of the District Health Management Information System (Part B of the tender, awarded to the Health Information Systems Programme (HISP) of the University of the Western Cape)

A situation analysis is the first step in the implementation of this programme. It allows for the understanding of each district as a whole. This in turn enables the planning and prioritisation of appropriate health interventions and programmes in a systematic and developmental way. The following are situation analyses for each of the districts done at the beginning of the tender in 2002.