Tag: Politics and Power
While ‘accountability’ has become an increasingly popular buzzword in health systems debates and health service delivery, it has multiple – and contested – meanings. From 19-21 July 2017, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) brought together 80-plus activists, researchers, public health practitioners and policy makers to examine critically the forces that shape accountability in health systems, from… Read more
Containment strategies for Ebola rupture fundamental features of social, political and religious life. Control efforts that involve local people and appreciate their perspectives, social structures and institutions are therefore vital. Unfortunately such approaches have not been widespread in West Africa where response strategies have been predominantly top-down. Authoritarian tactics have had questionable effect, potentially worsening… Read more
The origin of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been traced to the likely confluence of a virus, a bat, a two-year-old child and an underequipped rural health centre. Understanding how these factors may have combined in south-eastern Guinea near the end of 2013 requires us to rethink elements of the familiar Ebola ‘outbreak… Read more