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P15


Health for all: policy and practice 
Convenors:
Sigridur Baldursdottir (University of Iceland)
Jónína Einarsdóttir (University of Iceland)
Location:
JUB-G31
Start time:
11 September, 2015 at
Time zone: Europe/London
Session slots:
2

Short Abstract:

The panel explores formulation of global policies, and their impact on health care and access to services in low-income countries. How do community members, national actors and authorities act on these? Theoretical and ethnographically founded papers and those concerned with practice are welcome.

Long Abstract:

The global health landscape, characterized by public and private actors, has a great impact on policy and funding of health interventions in the resource-poor health sector in low-income countries. The level of funds and the priorities shift in line with the political and ideological trends of the time. The neoliberal policies promoted by the World Bank and IMF in the 1980s had a far-reaching impact on the health sector, for instance in sub-Saharan Africa. It resulted in introduction of user fees, cost recovery, private health insurance and public-private partnership with consequent inequalities in access to services. Later, in the 1990s, with the post-Washington consensus, global institutions again recognised health services as the responsibility of the state. Today under the influence of the ideology of Alma Ata, formulated in 1978, the emphasis is on universal health coverage through alleviation of user fees.

This panel explores the production of global policies and how these affect practices in health care and access to services at the local level in low-income countries and resource-poor areas. Are health practices driven by policies or is it practice that produces policy? For whom are health policies and practices designed? How are health policies formulated and acted on by local community members, other national actors and authorities? How does policy affect access to health care? What have we learned from past experience? How can future health policy and approaches benefit from past experience? We welcome theoretical and ethnographically founded papers as well as those concerned with practice.

Accepted papers:

Session 1
 
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