Governance Roles and Capacities of Ministries of Health: A Multidimensional Framework

• Main Authors: Kabir Sheikh (Author), Veena Sriram (Author), Benjamin Rouffy (Author), Benjamin Lane (Author), Agnes Soucat (Author), Maryam Bigdeli (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2021-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2322-5939; 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.39
• Keywords: ministries of health; health governance; public sector capacity; health systems; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: International Journal of Health Policy and Management, Vol 10, Iss 5, Pp 237-243 (2021)

The lack of capacity for governance of Ministries of Health (MoHs) is frequently advanced as an explanation for health systems failures in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). But do we understand what governance capacities MoHs should have? Existing frameworks have not fully captured the dynamic and contextually determined role of MoHs, and there are few frameworks that specifically define capacities for governance. We propose a multidimensional framework of capacities for governance by MoHs that encompasses both the "hard" (de jure, explicit and functional) and "soft" (de facto, tacit, and relational) dimensions of governance, and reflects the diversification of their mandates in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four case studies illustrate different aspects of the framework. We hope that the framework will have multiple potential benefits including benchmarking MoH governance capacities, identifying and helping analyze capacity gaps, and guiding strategies to strengthen capacity.