Analysis of health policy--principles and practice.

Health policy analysis covers a wide range of activities: from university-based research to practical activities carried out by bureaucrats and professionals working within the health system with independent unit or think tanks for health policy analysis as a third alternative. A key distinction is between analysis of policy and analysis for policy, which has eight key features: problem-centered; bias to facts and data; multidisciplinary; emphasis on feasibility; uses techniques and political awareness; quantitative and qualitative analysis; role of values; and timing of analysis. Decision-making is not a rational, logical process in which information and research determine policy outcomes, but a highly political process in which power and interest are the main driving forces. Health policy analyses can make a small contribution. Communication and salesmanship must go hand in hand with good academic techniques if research is to influence policy.