Dr Jürgen Schmidt - Health planning and management

Overview

Jürgen Schmidt is a public health specialist with particular expertise in health planning and management and health care reform. Jürgen has worked in Africa, the Middle East, eastern and northern Europe, providing expertise in strategic planning (including development of sector strategy action plans), and programme management and implementation. He has an in-depth understanding of a range of bilateral and multilateral organisations, both as a staff member and as a programme team leader. He has also worked with and for a range of non-governmental organisations.


Background and relevant experience

Jürgen has extensive experience in strategy development and health care reform. As a health and population adviser for Middle East and North Africa (2003–6), and Central and South Eastern Europe (CSEE) (1999–2003) for the UK Department for International Development (DFID), he has contributed to the health component of DFID country strategy papers.

He has also:

  • designed health care reform interventions for countries in CSEE in accordance with the UK government’s White Paper on International Development,
  • revised DFID’s strategy for transition countries in the region
  • developed DFID’s health strategy in the Balkans.

 

As chief technical adviser for an EC-funded project, Jürgen provided support to health care reform in Armenia (1998-9). Within the UK he has been involved in evaluation of health strategies and review and development of training in public health.

Jürgen has also been involved in donor liaison and coordination, including a period as Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Humanitarian Mission to Albania (1995−7). His responsibilities included representing WHO at central level and coordinating humanitarian aid directed at the health sector. As DFID Health Adviser, he managed relationships with bilateral and multilateral donors including WHO, European Union and USAID.

Jürgen has extensive experience of programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. As a DFID health adviser, he managed, monitored and evaluated a wide portfolio of projects. His work with WHO in Albania and Burundi has included ongoing needs assessment of health systems, monitoring of the distribution of humanitarian aid and coordination and implementation of polio immunization campaigns.

As a public health adviser for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Holland, Jürgen provided advice on country policy, programme design, planning, and implementation. He was also a consultant and trainer in health systems, epidemiology and communicable disease control. As Country Manager/Medical Coordinator, he was responsible for the implementation of MSF’s support to a district health system in post-conflict Rwanda, including rehabilitation of health infrastructures, training of national staff and re-instigating preventative activities.

Jürgen has worked as a health specialist in more than 25 countries, including Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Croatia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Kosovo, Malawi, Mali, North Korea, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Uganda, United Kingdom, Yemen and Zaïre.