{"title":"Mapping Global Voices for Empowering Informal Healthcare Providers to Build a Sustainable Community-Based Primary Healthcare Model in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).","authors":"Dhiman Debsarma, Sourindra Mohan Ghosh, Bikramaditya Kumar Choudhary","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8859","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8859","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8859"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12337200/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elizabeth Bennett, Stephanie M Topp, Alan Rob Moodie
{"title":"More Than a Watchdog: Harnessing State, Civil Society and Academia to Tackle Unhealth Commodity Industries; A Response to Recent Commentaries.","authors":"Elizabeth Bennett, Stephanie M Topp, Alan Rob Moodie","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.9260","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.9260","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"9260"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12414147/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Narrative Preparedness; A Response to Recent Commentary.","authors":"Eivind Engebretsen, Mona Baker","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.9001","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.9001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"9001"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12032265/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Unni Gopinathan, Tarry Asoka, María Eugenia Aponte-Rueda, Genevieve Cecilia Aryeteey, Esha Ray Chaudhuri, Meena Cherian, Praveen Devarsetty, Claire Glenton, Augustina Koduah, Tripti Gupta, Simon Lewin, Jacinta Nzinga, Velisha Ann Perumal-Pillay, Ravi Ram, Fatima Suleman, Goran Abdulla Zangana, Neil Martin Pakenham-Walsh
{"title":"Civil Society's Evidence-Generating Role for Health Policy Decisions: A Thematic Analysis of a Healthcare Information for All (HIFA) Community Online Discussion.","authors":"Unni Gopinathan, Tarry Asoka, María Eugenia Aponte-Rueda, Genevieve Cecilia Aryeteey, Esha Ray Chaudhuri, Meena Cherian, Praveen Devarsetty, Claire Glenton, Augustina Koduah, Tripti Gupta, Simon Lewin, Jacinta Nzinga, Velisha Ann Perumal-Pillay, Ravi Ram, Fatima Suleman, Goran Abdulla Zangana, Neil Martin Pakenham-Walsh","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8701","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8701","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Civil society actors are widely recognized for advocating the public interest in health policy. However, their role in contributing different types of evidence to inform policy is less explored. To explore this topic, members of the Healthcare Information for All (HIFA) online forum and the <i>Supporting Inclusive and Accountable Health Systems Decisions for Universal Health Coverage</i> (SUPPORT-SYSTEMS) research project conducted a four-week online discussion. The discussion focused on defining civil society, its role in health policy, the types of evidence it provides, and how this evidence is used and valued. Weekly focal questions encouraged HIFA members to share experiences of civil society engagement and the use of evidence in health policy-making. The thematic analysis identified four key messages. First, defining civil society requires critical reflection, as actors differ significantly in their interests, political ties, and influence. These distinctions affect how representative their evidence is and whether it reflects vested interests. Second, policy-making structures can support meaningful civil society participation, thereby strengthening the use of evidence and the legitimacy of policy decisions. Third, civil society provides valuable local and tacit knowledge that complements scientific evidence, though safeguards are needed to prevent bias or misrepresentation. Fourth, political economy factors-such as power imbalances, gatekeeping, and funding constraints-shape the influence of civil society evidence on policy. Overall, the discussion highlighted the diverse roles civil society can play in health policy and the importance of institutional mechanisms to support responsible evidence use. Thematic discussions in communities of practice (CoPs) like HIFA offer a dynamic and inclusive approach to engaging stakeholder knowledge in research projects.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8701"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12414145/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144788996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Depoliticization, Colonialism, and the Imperative to Disrupt Denial Comment on \"The Rhetoric of Decolonizing Global Health Fails to Address the Reality of Settler Colonialism: Gaza as a Case in Point\".","authors":"Zvika Orr, Anna C Zielinska","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8761","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8761","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article builds on Engebretsen and Baker's editorial to explore recent developments in medical neutrality, the depoliticization of healthcare, and political intervention in the context of the war in Gaza. We examine how international health organizations have increasingly, though insufficiently, taken a political stance, criticizing the detrimental structural forces affecting Palestinians' life and health. Concomitantly, many Israeli healthcare professionals and organizations have shifted from a declared neutral stance to endorsing the state's official narrative. Additionally, we analyze the connections between settler colonialism, Israeli and US policies, medicine, and international health organizations. While the discourse of decolonization provides valuable historical context for understanding the ongoing oppression of Palestinians, it often obscures critical issues, particularly the atrocity of the October 7 attack. We conclude by discussing the shift from literal denial to interpretive and implicatory denial, emphasizing the role of international health professionals and organizations in confronting these pervasive forms of denial.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8761"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12089830/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kamran Abbasi, Parveen Ali, Virginia Barbour, Marion Birch, Inga Blum, Peter Doherty, Andy Haines, Ira Helfand, Richard Horton, Kati Juva, Jose F Lapena, Robert Mash, Olga Mironova, Arun Mitra, Carlos Monteiro, Elena N Naumova, David Onazi, Tilman Ruff, Peush Sahni, James Tumwine, Carlos Umaña, Paul Yonga, Chris Zielinski
{"title":"Ending Nuclear Weapons, Before They End Us.","authors":"Kamran Abbasi, Parveen Ali, Virginia Barbour, Marion Birch, Inga Blum, Peter Doherty, Andy Haines, Ira Helfand, Richard Horton, Kati Juva, Jose F Lapena, Robert Mash, Olga Mironova, Arun Mitra, Carlos Monteiro, Elena N Naumova, David Onazi, Tilman Ruff, Peush Sahni, James Tumwine, Carlos Umaña, Paul Yonga, Chris Zielinski","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.9200","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.9200","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Note: This comment is being published simultaneously in multiple journals. For the full list of journals see: https://www.bmj.com/content/full-list-authors-and-signatories-nuclear-risk-editorial-may-2025.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"9200"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Future Best Buys Can and Should Do More Comment on \"Barriers and Opportunities for WHO 'Best Buys' Non-Communicable Disease Policy Adoption and Implementation From a Political Economy Perspective: A Complexity Systematic Review\".","authors":"Safura Abdool Karim, Marlyn Faure","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.9047","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.9047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over a decade has passed since the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a set of \"best buys\" for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Loffreda and colleagues' review describes how, despite the cost-effectiveness of these interventions, their adoption is often complex and governments face many challenges in both implementing and maintaining NCD prevention policies. Industry opposition and the commercial determinants of health (CDoH) remain significant challenges to an effective NCD response. In addition, the best buys may operate inequitably and are often unable to respond to the interrelated challenges posed by the global syndemic of obesity. We suggest that the next revision of the best buys adopts a more integrated approach that prioritize structural interventions, equity-focused strategies, and mechanisms to counteract industry interference.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"9047"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12337159/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning Care Pathways Framework: A New Method to Implement, Learn, Replicate, and Scale up Care Pathways for and With the Patient.","authors":"Jean-Baptiste Gartner, Célia Lemaire, André Côté","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8517","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8517","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although care pathways are a response to the calls for a major change in health system redesign initiatives, very few articles have proposed an implementation method. Indeed, no method exists for large-scale projects of care pathways, as sets of interventions within health systems. Drawing on the systems thinking approach and the pragmatic sociology, we describe the implementation methodology of the Learning Care Pathways (LCP) framework, a method to implement, learn, replicate, and scale up care pathways for and with the patient.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The LCP was conceptually developed through a series of literature reviews on key methodological concepts. As a comprehensive, theory-informed approach, the LCP emerged by linking implementation strategies, research methods, learning mechanisms and outcomes dimensions aimed at optimising care pathways.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Designed around 13 steps grouped into five phases, this framework provides implementation strategies, research methods and learning mechanisms, including levers for patient involvement. The pre-implementation phase enables the selection of the pilot project's receiving environment and the design of the project. The implementation phase is designed to co-construct and implement an optimised care pathway based on a scientific analysis of the patient journey, the care pathway perceived by professionals, the care pathway from data and integrating knowledge from international clinical practice guidelines. The post implementation phase aims to demonstrate value creation and set up a learning cycle. The replication phase is designed to repeat the method locally to develop horizontal learning and to evaluate scalability. Finally, the scale up phase aims to repeat the method in other territories to accelerate knowledge creation and develop horizontal and vertical learning.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This framework is of particular interest to policy-makers, healthcare managers, and researchers alike, and must be the subject of several experiments to conduct reproducible research that can lead to national Learning Health Systems (LHS).</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8517"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12032254/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"All-Cause and Cause-Specific Excess Mortality During the First Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic in North-East of Iran: Reiterating the Significance of High-Quality Healthcare Systems.","authors":"Seyedeh Vajiheh Kazemian, Maliheh Dadgarmoghaddam, Hamed Tabesh, Amirreza Khajedaluee, Mohammad Khajedaluee","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8757","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8757","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Excess mortality provides a comprehensive measure to assess the true impact of the disease on mortality rates. This study aimed to quantify excess mortality attributable to COVID-19 in northeastern Iran during the pandemic period (2020-2022).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This population-based cross-sectional study utilized population and mortality data extracted from electronic systems linked to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS). Data analysis was conducted using R Version 4.3.3. A log-linear model was employed to predict expected deaths during the two-year pandemic period, incorporating predictor variables such as the year of interest, the presence of COVID-19, and the population size for each respective year. Excess deaths were calculated as the difference between the expected and observed mortality. Furthermore, by considering the confirmed deaths directly attributed to COVID-19 and the difference between these and the excess deaths, the number of indirect deaths during the pandemic was determined.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The total count of recorded deaths from all causes exceeded the expected deaths by 31.15% (6750 cases) in the first year and 44.74% (10 078 cases) in the second year. The excess deaths were 1.48 and 1.79 times greater than the official reports of COVID-19 for the first and second years, respectively. It was also found that men experienced increased rates of excess deaths in each of the two years. Moreover, urban residents experienced higher rates of excess death in the same years. Based on cause-specific excess mortality, following infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) accounted for the largest proportion of excess deaths in both years of the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The overall mortality burden during the COVID-19 pandemic exceeded the official reports, highlighting the undercounting of the number of direct effects and emphasizing the significance of indirect effects. These findings underscore the importance of preparedness and organization of healthcare systems prior to a pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8757"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257195/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144788977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ambition With Uncertainty: Exploring Policy-Makers' Perspectives on Pathways to Net Zero Healthcare.","authors":"Anand Bhopal, Kristine Bærøe, Ole F Norheim","doi":"10.34172/ijhpm.8440","DOIUrl":"10.34172/ijhpm.8440","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Over 80 countries have now signed up to the COP26 Health Programme-a World Health Organization (WHO)-led initiative on climate change and health-of which 45 countries have committed to reaching <i>net zero</i> emissions before 2050. Efforts to reduce healthcare's carbon footprint raise conceptual, ethical and practical challenges for efficient and fair resource allocation. This study investigates how civil servants leading the development and implementation of national net zero healthcare strategies conceptualise the responsibility of health systems to cut emissions and describe potential trade-offs along the way.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We undertook 11 online, semi-structured qualitative research interviews between September 2022 - May 2023 with civil servants leading national net zero healthcare strategies. The interview guide explored three main areas: responsibility for emissions, priority setting and international perspectives. Interviews were coded and analysed the data using Malterud's systematic text condensation (STC).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four main themes emerged: obligation to act, leadership, governance, and prioritization. Participants described that the healthcare system should take responsibility for its entire carbon footprint, including harms inflicted beyond national borders. We also found indications of synergistic, multi-scalar health leadership-clinical, civil service, and political-helping to accelerate the net zero healthcare agenda. Participants generally rejected the notion of direct \"trade-offs\" between efforts to reduce emissions and patient care, emphasising ways net zero healthcare can leverage societal health improvements more broadly. These empirical findings inform the emerging literature exploring how health systems should account for their environmental impacts.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings highlight the sincerity of ambitions to deliver net zero healthcare and uncertainties on how to get there. Further work characterising the types of constraints and trade-offs policy-makers face on the path to net zero healthcare systems, including examples of how these have been overcome, could help integrate climate concerns into healthcare decision-making and resource allocation processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":14135,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Policy and Management","volume":"14 ","pages":"8440"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11845860/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144788978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}