Governance and health in the Arab world

Abstract

Since late 2010, the Arab world has entered a tumultuous period of change, with populations demanding more inclusive and accountable government. The region is characterised by weak political institutions, which exclude large proportions of their populations from political representation and government services. Building on work in political science and economics, we assess the extent to which the quality of governance, or the extent of electoral democracy, relates to adult, infant, and maternal mortality, and to the perceived accessibility and improvement of health services. We compiled a dataset from the World Bank, WHO, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Arab Barometer Survey, and other sources to measure changes in demographics, health status, and governance in the Arab World from 1980 to 2010. We suggest an association between more effective government and average reductions in mortality in this period; however, there does not seem to be any relation between the extent of democracy and mortality reductions. The movements for changing governance in the region threaten access to services in the short term, forcing migration and increasing the vulnerability of some populations. In view of the patterns observed in the available data, and the published literature, we suggest that efforts to improve government effectiveness and to reduce corruption are more plausibly linked to population health improvements than are efforts to democratise. However, these patterns are based on restricted mortality data, leaving out subjective health metrics, quality of life, and disease-specific data. To better guide efforts to transform political and economic institutions, more data are needed for healthcare access, health-care quality, health status, and access to services of marginalised groups.

A Call to Action to Transform Pharmacy Education and Practice in the Arab World

“…5 The educational system and governmental regulatory structures in place should match both the health care needs of the people in a particular country or area and the capabilities and training of the members of the health care team. 6 This need is especially prominent in the Arab world, which consists of 22 countries in Asia and Africa that share a common history, language, and culture. 7 In the Arab world, the burdens of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are growing in addition to poverty, population growth, increasing numbers of refugees, and other public health issues.…”

Health system challenges of NCDs in Tunisia

“…Maternal and infant mortality have, for example, shown marked improvements (Arfa and Achouri 2008;Ben Romdhane and Grenier, 2009). Education and healthcare have received more investment and proved more effective than in most MENA countries, underpinning this gain in life expectancy (World Health Organization 2013), and Tunisia features among the MENA countries with the largest development gains since 1970 (Batniji et al 2014). Basic social protection, moreover, covered a much larger proportion of the population than was typical of the region (Ben Romdhane 2006;Saleh et al 2014), and gender inequalities were arguably less pronounced.…”

Mapping genetic research in non-communicable disease publications in selected Arab countries: first step towards a guided research agenda

“…The listed countries have been mostly affected by the recent wars and political and economic turmoil happening in the Arab region. Alternatively, the drop may be attributed to a shift in research funds away from sophisticated costly research, the impact of which will be felt on the long run [24–26].

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