Public management and the essential public health functions

Khaleghian, Peyvand; Gupta, Mónica Das

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.04.001

Cited by 54 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…While the budgetary imperative to rein back spending on staff hasn't gone away, we have started to hear a different story in the health sphere from the downsizing narrative that dominated discussion in the 1980s and 1990s, a story about the positive contribution of health workers to public health, rather than their negative drain on public expenditure. For example, we have realized that the more doctors, nurses and midwives there are, the lower maternal, infant and child mortality rates will be [3,4]. …”

Section: Background: Institutional and Hr Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the human resources crisis: a case study of the Namibian health service

McCourt

Awases

2007

Hum Resour Health

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BackgroundThis paper addresses an important practical challenge to staff management. In 2000 the United Nations committed themselves to the ambitious targets embodied in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Only five years later, it was clear that poor countries were not on track to achieve them. It was also clear that achieving the three out of the eight MDGs that concern health would only be possible if the appropriate human resources (HR) were in place.MethodsWe use a case study based on semi-structured interview data to explore the steps that Namibia, a country facing severe health problems that include an alarmingly high AIDS infection rate, has taken to manage its health workers.ResultsIn the fifteen years since independence, Namibia has patiently built up a relatively good strategic framework for health policy in the context of government policy as a whole, including strong training arrangements at every level of health staffing, and it has brought HIV/AIDS under the strategic umbrella through its National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. Its major weakness is that it has not kept pace with the rise in HIV/AIDS and TB infection: the community counselling service, still at the pilot stage at the time of this study, was the only specific response. That has created a tension between building long-term capacity in a strategic context and responding to the short-term demands of the AIDS and TB crisis, which in turn affects the ability of HR to contribute to improving health outcomes.ConclusionIt is suggested that countries like Namibia need a new paradigm for staffing their health services. Building on the existing strategic framework, it should target the training of 'mid-level cadres'. Higher-level cadres should take on the role of supporting and monitoring the mid-level cadres. To do that, they will need management training and a performance management framework for staff support and monitoring.

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Section: Background: Institutional and Hr Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the human resources crisis: a case study of the Namibian health service

McCourt

Awases

2007

Hum Resour Health

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“…3 To illustrate, most public health functions are considered public goods-for example in a public health information campaign, where the benefits are collective, it would be impossible to measure how much any individual has consumed, the service is not used up by its consumption and it is not possible to exclude (or make individuals pay for) its benefits (Batley & Larbi, 2004). Cancer treatment, on the other hand, is considered a private good because the benefits are largely consumed individually, rivalry is inherent between consumers competing for a limited pool of resources, and individuals can be excluded (Khaleghian & Das Gupta, 2005). Rivalry and excludability are fixed characteristics, inherent in the nature of the good, and they determine how particular goods can be financed and delivered.…”

Section: (A) the Nature Of Goods And Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Where this failure is perceptible, governments may compel individuals to consume certain goods, often called merit goods, to generate what would otherwise be missed opportunities for positive externalities. Immunization falls into this category, because it not only has private benefits for the vaccinated individual, but also contributes to the protection of the wider public (Khaleghian & Das Gupta, 2005).…”

Section: (A) the Nature Of Goods And Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is why democracies are sometimes characterized as generally better at intervening in the "spectacular suffering" of famine, than they are at preventing the "unspectacular suffering" of chronic malnutrition (Khaleghian & Das Gupta, 2005). The prominence of a service in national debates can be manipulated by political elites, through media channels and information campaigns (Eldon, Waddington, & Hadi, 2008;Harris, Batley, & Wales, 2014).…”

Section: (Iii) Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Politics of Public Services: A Service Characteristics Approach

Batley

Mcloughlin

2015

World Development

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Politics is widely regarded as affecting and being affected by the performance of public services, yet little research differentiates between services in exploring these effects. The article addresses this gap by proposing a framework for understanding and comparing the politics of different services. It identifies how the nature of the good, type of market failure, tasks involved in delivery, and demand for a service-hitherto regarded largely as economic and managerial concerns-affect political commitment, organizational control, and user power. Policy responses can be targeted to address service characteristics where they present opportunities or constraints to better services.

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“…Since then, recruitment and training of district level chief executives and rules for DHG replicated in 11 more districts of Punjab. At the heart of this reform, effort was a shift from government by control to government by contract (Khaleghian Das Gupta, 2005).…”

Section: Reform Of Primary Healthcare In Punjab Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public sector institutions, politics and outsourcing: Reforming the provision of primary healthcare in Punjab, Pakistan

Khan

2009

J of Intl Development

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Lodhran|Rahim Yar Khan (RYK) model of primary healthcare is a home-grown experiment in Pakistan. The model envisaged transferring the management of primary healthcare facilities to a public sector NGO. The paper finds that through the re-alignment of interest groups, the model was replicated in several other districts of the province. It also examines the evolution of stakeholders' behaviour, interest, position and influence in its implementation over a period of time. The study concludes that sustainability of the model remains doubtful unless public sector health bureaucracy is restructured and made to work effectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Public management and the essential public health functions

Cited by 54 publications

References 44 publications

Addressing the human resources crisis: a case study of the Namibian health service

Addressing the human resources crisis: a case study of the Namibian health service

The Politics of Public Services: A Service Characteristics Approach

Public sector institutions, politics and outsourcing: Reforming the provision of primary healthcare in Punjab, Pakistan

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