Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24740710›Full record

ReviewHealth policy and planning2015

Health policy evolution in Lao People's Democratic Republic: context, processes and agency.

Kristina Jönsson, Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, Rolf Wahlström, Göran Tomson

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Health policy and planning, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kristina JönssonDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, PO Box 52, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR, Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden and Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, and Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden Kristina.Jonsson@svet.lu.se.
Bounfeng PhoummalaysithDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, PO Box 52, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR, Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden and Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, and Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Rolf WahlströmDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, PO Box 52, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR, Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden and Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, and Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Göran TomsonDepartment of Political Science, Lund University, PO Box 52, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR, Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden and Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health, and Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During the last 20 years Lao People's Democratic Republic has successfully developed and adopted some 30 health policies, strategies, decrees and laws in the field of health. Still, the implementation process remains arduous. This article aims at discussing challenges of health policy development and effective implementation by contextualizing the policy evolution over time and by focusing particularly on the National Drug Policy and the Health Care Law. Special attention is given to the role of research in policymaking. The analysis was guided by the conceptual framework of policy context, process, content and actors, combined with an institutional perspective, and showed that effective implementation of a health policy is highly dependent on both structures and agency of those involved in the policy process. The National Drug Policy was formulated and adopted in a short period of time in a resource-scarce setting, but with dedicated policy entrepreneurs and support of concerned international collaborators. Timely introduction of operational health systems research played a crucial role to support the implementation, as well as the subsequent revision of the policy. The development of the Health Care Law took several years and once adopted, the implementation was delayed by institutional legacies and issues concerning the choice of institutional design and financing, despite strong support of the law among the policymakers. Among many factors, timing of the implementation appeared to be of crucial importance, in combination with strong leadership. These two examples show that more research, that problematizes the complex policy environment in combination with improved communication between researchers and policymakers, is necessary to inform about measures for effective implementation. A way forward can be to strengthen the domestic research capacity and the international research collaboration regionally as well as globally.

Indexed as

Health Plan ImplementationPolicy MakingBiomedical ResearchHealth PolicyLaosOrganizational Case StudiesRetrospective StudiesHealth Care LawNational Drug Policypolicy implementationPolicy processresearch to policy

Identifiers

PMID24740710
PMCPMC4385816

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.