Joel Negin is conducting a consultancy project for the Australian International Health Institute, “Pacific Focus”: Understanding Health Policy Development and Capacity in the Pacific. 

In the arena of Global Health, health policy is one of the key areas in which many of the actors such as international agencies, donors, researchers, NGO’s, national governments are involved. Much of the health policy emphasis globally has been on what health policy reforms countries should introduce. (Walt and Gilson 1994) The Pacific is no exception: debates have persisted regarding health sector reforms, financing options, and disease control priorities. What has received little analysis is how countries carry out reforms, how policy is developed and implemented, and who is involved in these processes. (ibid.) This project looks at the “how” of policy development by applying the lens of health policy analysis.