International Political Science Association

Research Committee 25:

Comparative Health Policy

Current Research Focus:

The Research Committee 25 on Comparative Health Policy (RC 25) has scheduled a series of regional meetings during 2007-2009 to explore experiences and document lessons about the delivery of services in stratified societies. These regional meetings of RC25 will investigate the effects of reforms on access to and delivery of services in the health sector. The dates and locations of the four regional meetings of IPSA RC25 are:

* 15-16 October 2007, University of Delhi (South Campus), India
* 3-4 March 2008, University of the Western Cape (Bellville), South Africa
* 10-11 November 2008, Institute of Social Studies (The Hague), The Netherlands
* 23-24 February 2009, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Rio de Janeiro), Brazil
* 12-15 July 2009, 21st IPSA World Congress,Santiago de Chile, Chile

Since 1990 many countries have initiated reforms of service delivery systems but preliminary evidence indicates that health sector reforms have not delivered the expected results. Though there has been some reduction in inequities in both access and resource allocation, inequitiese are often exacerbated when policies for decentralization are implemented simultaneously with reductions in public spending on social services. The neo-liberal introduction of user-fees has negatively affected access to as well as use of services by poorer segments of society while favoring urban areas and the middle class.

Among the reforms that may be examined at these inter-congress regional meetings are the introduction of new forms of financing (targetted at the expansion of health insurance), new forms of delivery (particularly public-private partnerships as well as contracting with private providers), autonomy for agencies formerly in the public sector, regulation, decentralization and devolution. Focus will be on governance of and by the public sector during these reforms and the policy consequences of feedback about lessons learned.

Each two-day meeting will feature sessions for presenting analytic papers on comparative health policies, a workshop on a theme specific to the region, a keynote address and, where possible, a panel of practitioners (political, administrative, professional) to reflect on the practicability of the findings and observations. For additional information on these regional sessions, contact the RC25 Chair at bjorkman@iss.nl

President: James W. Björkman

Vice Presidents:

· Monika Steffen, Universite Pierre-Mendès-France, Grenoble, France
Coordinator for Europe & Latin America, Monika.Steffen@upmf-grenoble.fr

· Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau, UT-Houston School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA
Coordinator for North America, Asia and Eurasia, Pauline.Rosenau@uth.tmc.edu

Past President:

· Christa Altenstetter (2000-2006)

About Research Committees: Each committee has cross-national membership, and its affairs are managed, subject to general IPSA guidelines, by an executive board consisting of IPSA members. Each research committee is required to organize at least one roundtable meeting between congresses; research committees are entitled to organize two and up to four panels at IPSA’s World Congress.