TY - JOUR T1 - Providing technical assistance to ministries of health: lessons learned over 30 years JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 302 LP - 307 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-13-00121 VL - 1 IS - 3 AU - Steven Solter AU - Catherine Solter Y1 - 2013/11/01 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/1/3/302.abstract N2 - Pursuing true country ownership for effective programs requires a long-term approach involving persistence, patience, keen understanding of counterparts' perspective, deference, building trust, focus on priorities, technical competence, and sustained optimism. Beginning in 1976, we have each spent more than 30 years providing technical assistance (TA) to ministries of health (MOH), chiefly at the central level but also at the provincial level. More than 20 of those years were spent providing long-term assistance—that is, a year or more of continuous residence as a ministry advisor—in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. We have also provided short-term assistance to health ministries in many other countries. We both have worked for nonprofit organizations that provide technical assistance in public health to developing countries. Over this period we have encountered an enormous variety of situations in the health ministries where we worked—major differences in cultural values, political pressures, priorities, and personalities among our ministry counterparts—and yet we feel that there was some consistency across the various countries in terms of what worked and what did not and why. We have learned a great deal from making almost every imaginable mistake at one time or another. This brief paper is an attempt to distill some of the major lessons we have learned (with examples) in order to contribute to discussion among those trying to provide the best technical assistance they can. We have identified 10 lessons that we believe are among the most relevant and important. Some may seem self-evident; others are less so. The evidence must, by the very nature of the work, be largely subjective and anecdotal. A randomized field trial of technical assistance is not feasible. What we describe is based on our own experiences, which are not necessarily generalizable. However, in our discussions with other advisors over the years, we have … ER -