Health Policy & Governance

COURSES AND PROGRAMMES CAN BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Health policies are the steering instructions of health systems. Broadly defined as “statements of health-related goals, objectives and means that create the framework for activity”, health policies set the goals of the health system and allocate the resources required to achieve those goals. Health governance can then be defined as “the process of societal decision making about health policies”.

Health policies are based on knowledge about facts, which are at times disputed, and also on norms and values, which are inherently subjective. Health governance (i.e. health policy making) involves many actors, not only state actors. Health policies are made within specific contexts. The combination of facts being disputed, norms being subjective, multitude of actors and agents, and context specificity, inevitably leads to health governance being complex and unclear. However, researchers have developed theories, frameworks and other tools that can help adding some clarity. This course will get the participants acquainted with the toolbox of the health policy and governance researcher and will allow them to become effective actors in health governance.

This course is designed for people involved in health governance, at local, national or international levels, national and local health system managers, health programme managers and researchers involved in health governance at different levels, both within and beyond the health sector.

The course introduces and discusses perspectives from disciplines such as public health, political science, law, public administration, organisational sociology and economics.

The department of public health at ITM has a longstanding expertise and experience in supporting, implementing and studying health policy processes. Participants also benefit from the rich exchange of experience between their peers, coming from different parts of the world.