Research
The Basel Institute on Governance is currently undertaking an interdisciplinary research project on "The Governance of Health Systems" in partnership with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. This project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (NRW1522 – Verfügung: K-13K1-122277/1) for the duration of three years (2009-2011).
The overall goal of this research project is to elaborate an interdisciplinary framework to assess the governance of health systems, which is intended to contribute to the improvement of health care policies, health care delivery and access to health care by providing a better understanding of critical factors that determine the governance of health systems and by providing inputs for reforms. Two countries have been selected for case studies, Tanzania and Tajikistan, as they are indicative of health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, respectively. Both the Basel Institute on Governance and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have extensive experience working in those two countries and can provide the research team with substantial support in terms of availability of research networks and data sharing.
The expertise from both the Basel Institute of Governance and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute are combined in a strong interdisciplinary team incorporating political science, health economics, epidemiology and legal approaches. The operational team in this research project consists of a lead researcher, Dr Claudia Baez-Camargo, and two PhD students, Inez Mikkelsen-Lopez and Eelco Jacobs. Also closely involved in this project are Prof Mark Pieth, grant main applicant, as well as grant co-applicants and research partners from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Prof Don de Savigny and Kaspar Wyss PD, PhD, MPH.
The development of the analytical approach has been completed at this stage. The resulting framework is based on the conviction that to correctly assess the performance of the formal institutions of the health system in low income countries it is necessary to address both the formal and the informal dimensions underpinning the actions of key stakeholders. The framework also gives emphasis to the importance of accountability as a key dimension that, when improved upon, reduces the opportunity space for corruption and enhances transparency. The analytical tools to implement this approach involve combining institutional and stakeholder mapping with power and influence analysis.
To learn more about our conceptual and methodological approach to evaluate health systems governance please download our Working Papers and Publications:
- A framework to assess governance of health systems in low income countries, Working Paper No 11.
- Accountability for better healthcare provision: A framework and guidelines to define understand and assess accountability in health systems, Working Paper No 10.
- Using power and influence analysis to address corruption risks: The case of the Ugandan drug supply chain, Publication.
Work towards the application of the conceptual framework in Tanzania and Tajikistan is still being undertaken. Please continue to visit this webpage for updates.