Supporting inclusive and accountable health systems decisions in Ghana and Kenya for universal health coverage (SUPPORT-SYSTEMS)

Summary

How countries pursue UHC depends on their approaches to strengthening health systems. However, this should ideally include using evidence to inform decisions about health systems interventions, and involving stakeholders in these processes. Our research therefore focuses on two key areas: evidence-informed health systems decisions and inclusive and accountable decision-making. We will explore national and subnational decision-making processes in Ghana and Kenya—two low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a political commitment to UHC, and focused on implementing decentralization as a key strategy for health sector reform and more inclusive governance. 

The project has three objectives:

1) to identify factors affecting the participation and agency of civil society during national and subnational evidence-informed health policy processes;

2) to explore how policymakers in Ghana and Kenya engage with, value and use different types of evidence, particularly qualitative evidence on stakeholder views and experiences, when making health systems decisions on service delivery reforms and;

3) to develop new tools to support inclusive and accountable health systems decisions at national and subnational levels.

Project partners include the University of Ghana, the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Healthcare Information for All (HIFA) global forums. 

Our findings will provide key insights on how citizen voices, including research evidence on citizen perspectives, can be included in health decision making in LMICs and how this can contribute to more inclusive, accountable and equitable health systems. 

Participating institutions and individuals

Institution	Participants
Folkehelseinstituttet
Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
Department of Health Policy, Planning and Management, University of Ghana
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
SUM, University of Oslo
Healthcare Information for all (HIFA)