Following an extensive independent review, eight teams have been awarded research grants to support the development of case studies to explain what factors have enabled or hindered interventions to engage non-state providers in strengthening health systems towards universal health coverage (UHC). The selected teams represent the following countries: Bosnia, Herzegovina, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Burkina Faso.
The teams will be attending a protocol development workshop in Tunis, Tunisia from 26 – 30 January 2015, where they will receive technical assistance to fully-develop their research protocols.
This research call, issued by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, in collaboration with the WHO Department of Service Delivery and Safety, Canada`s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Rockefeller Foundation, is the culmination of a multi-year consultative priority setting process supported by the Alliance that includes three main inputs:
- Key informant interviews with health policy-makers, researchers, community, and civil society across 24 LMICs in four regions (Latin America & the Caribbean, East Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East/North Africa)
- An overview of relevant literature reviews to identify research on the topic
- Inputs from nine key informants at a consultative workshop held in Bellagio, Italy in 2008
Research call on the role of non-state providers in strengthening health systems towards universal health coverage (UHC)
There is an increasing awareness that despite substantial investments made over the past thirty to forty years in LMICs, governments cannot be viewed as the sole or principal provider of health care in many countries. Recent years have witnessed an increased recognition of the role of non-state providers in the health systems of LMICs as well as rapid expansion in their numbers. These changes have led to a growing realization of the need to harness the capacities of these actors in progressing towards UHC through policy and regulatory mechanisms as well as engaging with them through arrangements including contracting-out, franchising, and social marketing.
Through this research call, knowledge will be generated on the factors that have enabled or hindered interventions by governments to engage non-state providers in strengthening health systems towards the achievement of universal health coverage, and the reasons for it.