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DHA Campus, IslamabadMandra Campus, Rawalpindi
From policy to practice
The first school of its kind globally: a university-based school built on the conviction that public and private sectors must work in unison to advance Universal Health Coverage.
About SUHC
UHC means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Nation States at the United Nations (UN) have agreed to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. UHC is a normative concept, guiding health system reforms, to ensure equity and financial protection for all in need of health services.
The high-level political declaration on UHC at the UN calls on the Nation States to recognize the importance of the private sector in the development, implementation and evaluation of health related policies and gauge their contribution towards UHC. The role of the private sector is especially important in low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan, where it is the predominant platform for service delivery. In these countries, despite its preeminence, the private sector's potential in evidence synthesis and its contribution towards socio-culturally informed training and development is underutilized.
The ambitious UHC agenda would require the public and the private sectors to work in unison. Progress towards UHC necessitates the role of the private sector in driving the UHC agenda as an equal partner with the public sector. The School of Universal Health Coverage is born out of this conviction.
The School of Universal Health Coverage (SUHC), at the Global Institute of Human Development (GIHD), Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (STMU), is the first of its kind institute globally. Couched in a university academic setting and linked with a tertiary care teaching hospital, SUHC plans to establish certificate, diploma and degree programmes by inviting the best faculty from within STMU and outside, including regional and global experts.
Current opportunity
A structured 6-month leadership programme designed for health administrators, clinicians, and policy professionals actively advancing Universal Health Coverage systems.
Duration: 6 months (part-time blended format). Target participants include mid-career health professionals, district health managers, and NGO leaders.
Covers health systems governance, sustainable financing, quality assurance, and intersectoral collaboration between public and private providers.
Institutional foundation
Programmes in development
SUHC is establishing the following certificate courses. Registration expresses interest and does not constitute an admission offer. Cohort announcements and prerequisites will be shared upon formal accreditation.
Prospective credit-transfer pathways toward postgraduate diplomas or research degrees are subject to formal academic council and regulatory approvals. Registering interest is used to notify you when syllabus schedules and application windows open; it is not an admission offer.
Common questions
SUHC is GIHD's school at Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University for Universal Health Coverage and health systems. GIHD describes it as the first school of its kind globally, in a university setting linked to a teaching hospital. Most certificate, diploma and degree programmes are still in development. The campus is DHA Islamabad.
A six-month Leadership for UHC certificate is listed in the training catalogue. Other planned courses (health economics, public health law, digital records, and more) are not open intakes yet. Registering interest is not an admission offer; GIHD uses it to notify you when windows open.
Use Register your interest on this page, or enquire about the Leadership for UHC course via the certificate catalogue. For DFM and the PG mental health certificate — which include UHC modules — apply on those programme pages instead.
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Diploma in Family MedicineDoctors & clinicians · 1 year
PG Certificate in Mental Health & ResearchDoctors & clinicians · 6-month taught curriculum, followed by a 6-month supervised research practicum
Systematic Review of LiteratureResearchers · 6 months
Research-led teaching coursesResearchers · 6 months per courseNext step
Certificate courses are being established. Register your interest to hear first.
Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm