East Asia and Pacific
Promoting health and equity: evidence, policy and action: cases from the Western Pacific region
Developing countries need evidence-based approaches to health policy, with equity as a key focus.
Authors:
Publisher:
Regional Office for the Western Pacific, World Health Organisation, 2009
This book, published by the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization, notes that health equity and the barriers to achieving it in developing countries have been a major subject of research for many years, resulting in a growing evidence base on policies and actions to promote health equity. Despite efforts over the past two decades, the authors argue that inequalities are increasing rather than decreasing in many countries. The authors assert that this may partly be due to faulty policy decisions that have increased some of the barriers faced by the poor in accessing health services.
Building on the High-Level Meeting on Promoting Health Equity: Evidence, Policy and Action, held from 16 to 18 October 2007 in Phnom Penh, this book identifies ways to promote the more systematic use of equity research in health policy and action. Using case studies on evidence-to-policy process, the authors illustrate how the process has worked in eight countries of the Western Pacific Region. This book provides useful ideas for promoting evidence-based debate, analysis and policy development for health equity over the longer term.
Through synthesising the cases and the lessons learned from them, the authors compare and contrast the different cases, identify key factors that stimulate policy-relevant research and better use of evidence for policymaking. The authors conclude that these lessons can be especially valuable for developing countries, where resources are limited and better understanding of the trade-offs implied by alternative policy choices is needed.
