To harmonise or not to harmonise? The case of cross-national biotechnology governance in Southern Africa

This paper is based on a study which investigated both existing and new regulatory responses to food emergencies and bigger challenges presented by modern gene-based biotechnologies. In particular, this paper looks at the challenge of cross-national cooperation in regulation of these technologies in southern Africa. One response to this challenge which has dominated policy agendas in the region for a long time, and with more prominence after the 2002-2003 food emergency, is that of harmonisation of national biosafety regulatory systems. Harmonisation is touted by its promoters as one way in which countries can buttress weaker national and sub-national regulatory capacities, and develop synergies that will place them in a strong position to deal with the dynamic challenges presented by modern biotechnologies. The desire for cross-national cooperation in biotechnology management was investigated from the broader perspective of policy convergence, with harmonization being but one of the mechanisms towards the policy convergence. A number of factors facilitating or inhibiting policy convergence were identified, including but not limited to cultural, institutional, socio-economic and policy community attributes. The paper concludes that an understanding of these factors is crucial if grounded empirical and theoretical proposals on cross-national policy convergence are to be advanced

Innovative spending in health: what should money be spent on to make global health innovations more effective in developing countries?

Background Delivering effective healthcare to people in developing countries is a perennial challenge, hence the unending search for, and implementation of creative or innovative ways of spending money and other resources that are available for health. Objectives This paper presents and discusses some innovations in health-spending from South Africa and Zimbabwe. The presentation will also ask a number of inter-related theory, policy and practice questions, among others, how such innovations get embedded in health systems, how they can be/are cushioned from internal and external shocks, whether there are any back-up mechanisms, and who is liable when such innovations fail? Methods This paper is based on an on-going three-year project and is drawing on evidence emerging from interviews with key stakeholders located at various points within and around health systems in South Africa and Zimbabwe, observations and document reviews. Result From creation of policy and practice space for medical facilities run separately or collectively by public, private and civil society stakeholders; generation, consolidation and use of disease surveillance data at district, provincial and national levels; to empowering rural communities in shaping health delivery options, there is abundant evidence in the two countries of innovative efforts to do more with less. Conclusion This paper confirms the need for agile and innovative approaches to ensuring that the health needs of marginalised populations are met. In addition to reflecting on the utility and effectiveness of some approaches already in use, the paper also brings to the fore some hitherto unreported innovations in health spending in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Governance of biotechnology in Africa: the challenge of reconciling interdependencies and differences

The article argues that an informed understanding of the differences and interdependencies among different stakeholders within the biotechnology and biosafety arena is a key issue in the unpacking of challenges facing development and implementation of biosafety systems in Africa. Advocating for a move beyond rhetoric, the article calls for a more nuanced and context-driven approach to biosafety as an avenue for raising chances of success for policy processes and making best use of available resources. Failure to adequately define and delimit the interests and concerns of various stakeholders, and embedding them within a science-based assessment of biosafety brings more harm than good to efforts by countries to develop and implement biosafety systems

Open University Submission : House of Commons International Development Select Committee : Inquiry into Health System Strengthening

DFID’s support for health systems strengthening (HSS) in low income countries (LICs) is welcomed. Our response addresses the following aspects of Committee’s questions concerning the effectiveness of DFID's current approach to HSS: DFID's support for the six building blocks of health system strengthening; DFID's role in ensuring better balance between rural and urban healthcare; and the UK's work with other development agencies, partner governments, communities and civil society on health system strengthening

Multiple meanings, one objective: the case of biotechnology policy convergence in Africa

Policy convergence, defined as the growth in similarity of policies over time, constitutes a central concept in comparative public policy, yet a great deal of ambiguity and contention surrounds it. The article discusses the conceptual and practical meanings of policy convergence in the context of efforts to harmonise biosafety systems across various regions of Africa. The article comes from a broader investigation of the ways in which three supranational organisations, the African Union (AU), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are influencing processes towards the harmonised biosafety systems in southern Africa. Unearthing different stakeholders understandings of what convergence or harmonisation are, and how they can be achieved, the article argues that an illumination of the different framings of these concepts is crucial, not for the sake of eliminating differences between these understandings, but in order to illustrate the divergent realities and their potential to facilitate or inhibit policy making processes

Socio-economic impact of GMOs on African consumers

The debate surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remains an important one for consumers and consumer organisations the world over, and is characterized by strong views for, and against the technology. The debate is of particular interest to Africa, where the countries are yet to embrace the new technology and where food security challenges tend to amplify the dilemma faced by decision-makers. Consumers, represented through the work of consumer organizations, are a very active and vocal constituency in this debate, as it unfolds in Africa.The objective of this paper is to inform the reader on how the consumer movement has contributed to the GMO debate in Africa in the past few years and to highlight the potential socio-economic impacts on African consumers. Firstly, the paper summarises the consumer movement and its work with the Joint Advocacy Project on GMOs; and secondly looks at the potential social, ethical and cultural impacts. Economic and environmental impacts are also discussed. The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment tool is highlighted as one of several tools to guide bio-safety decision-making policy. A few recommendations and policy implications are given at the end of the paper

Private Sector Participation in Health Care in Zimbabwe: What’s the Value Added and Institutional Challenges?

This paper analyses the private healthcare sector’s role in Zimbabwe’s health delivery system, especially after economic challenges reduced in real terms fiscal support for public health system funding. This paints a sharp contrast between practicalities of achieving affordable and accessible public healthcare on one hand, and the economic and social realities of underfunded and skills-constrained health systems. Using as empirical models and analytical lenses the country’s 2009–2013 National Health Strategy and the WHO’s health system building blocks, we examine the role played by private sector health delivery actors in the last 10 years and suggest that although the private sector added value, there is a bigger challenge of weak macro-level coordination and communication within the health sector which create problems for systemic design, strategy formulation and feedback mechanisms, important for institutional innovation and timely responses to changing dynamics. Macro-level coordination can be aided by documentation and standardization of procedures, processes and approaches by different health delivery actors to align with national health delivery goals, allowing more predictable and measurable impact from interventions by different actors