The Effectiveness of Global Health Policy Networks
Globally, why have deaths declined more rapidly from some conditions than others? Typically, efforts to answer this question focus on whether effective medical interventions exist. But this is not the whole story.
Missing is consideration of the actors: the individuals and organizations linked by a shared concern for a condition – what might be termed its ‘global health policy network’. Presumably some networks are more effective than others in attracting attention to the issue, in generating funding, in discovering interventions, and in convincing national governments to adopt policies and carry out programs.
The Global Health Advocacy and Policy Project (GHAPP) is a three-year research initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation designed to understand why some global health policy networks are more effective than others in achieving these outcomes. It compares the effectiveness of networks concerned with six global health problems: maternal mortality, newborn deaths, tuberculosis, pneumonia, tobacco control and alcohol abuse. The talk will highlight a set of factors that help to explain why some networks are more effective than others.Speaker:
Jeremy Shiffman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University
A political scientist by training, Dr. Shiffman researches the politics of health policy and administration in poor countries. He has a particular interest in health agenda-setting: why some issues receive priority while others are neglected. Among other topics, he has investigated maternal survival, newborn survival, family planning, donor funding for health and health systems reform. His research has been funded by the Gates, MacArthur and Rockefeller Foundations, among other organizations. His work has appeared in multiple journals, including The Lancet, The American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, Population and Development Review, The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Bulletin of the World Health Organization and Health Policy and Planning. Previously he was on the faculty of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, where he received four teaching awards. Prior to working in academia he served as an executive with the inter national public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, and as a social worker, working with Vietnamese boat people. He received a BA summa cum laude from Yale University in philosophy, an MA from Johns Hopkins University in international relations, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in political science.
Globally, why have deaths declined more rapidly from some conditions than others? Typically, efforts to answer this question focus on whether effective medical interventions exist. But this is not the whole story.