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Enhancing Public Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: From Good Policies and Best Practices to Better Implementation

Author

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  • Michael Woolcock

    (Center for International Development at Harvard University)

Abstract

In rich and poor countries alike, a core challenge is building the state’s capability for policy implementation. Delivering high-quality public health and health care – affordably, reliably, at scale, for all – exemplifies this challenge, since doing so requires deftly integrating refined technical skills (surgery), broad logistics management (supply chains, facilities maintenance), adaptive problem solving (curative care) and resolving ideological differences (who pays? who provides?), even as the prevailing health problems themselves only become more diverse, complex and expensive as countries become more prosperous. The current state of state capability in developing countries, however, is demonstrably alarming, with the strains and demands only likely to intensify in the coming decades. Prevailing ‘best practice’ strategies for building implementation capability – copying and scaling putative successes from abroad – are too often part of the problem, while individual training (‘capacity building’) and technological upgrades (e.g., new management information systems) remain necessary but deeply insufficient. An alternative approach is outlined, one centered on building implementation capability by working iteratively to solve problems nominated and prioritized by local actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Woolcock, 2018. "Enhancing Public Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: From Good Policies and Best Practices to Better Implementation," CID Working Papers 340, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
  • Handle: RePEc:cid:wpfacu:340
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    File URL: https://bsc.cid.harvard.edu/files/bsc/files/woolcock_publichealth_cid340.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Hazel Gardner & Katherine Green & Andrew Gardner & Donna Geddes, 2019. "Maternal and Infant Health in Abu Dhabi: Insights from Key Informant Interviews," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Ghasemi, Abdolrasoul & Boroumand, Yasaman & Shirazi, Masoud, 2020. "How do governments perform in facing COVID-19?," MPRA Paper 99791, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Apr 2020.
    3. YongChan Kim & Min Jae Park & Erdal Atukeren, 2020. "Healthcare and Welfare Policy Efficiency in 34 Developing Countries in Asia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-21, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Policy Implementation; State Capability; Public Health; Subnational Variation;
    All these keywords.

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