Beyond Resource Mobilisation
Future Health Systems
BY DAVID BISHAI, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Transmitting the needs of the poor to the ears of the policymaker is not as easy as it seems. The poor themselves do not fully know what causes their ill health. They and their doctors frame the problem in medical terms. Epidemiologists multiply case counts into “burden”. Economists prioritize disease burdens according to the costs of the medical solution. Advocates use photo journals, tales of woe, body counts and whatever cost-effectiveness estimates they can get their hands on to elbow their way into the hearts and minds of the global policymakers, government officials, and donors.
Transmitting the needs of the poor to the ears of the policymaker is not as easy as it seems. The poor themselves do not fully know what causes their ill health. They and their doctors frame the problem in medical terms. Epidemiologists multiply case counts into “burden”. Economists prioritize disease burdens according to the costs of the medical solution. Advocates use photo journals, tales of woe, body counts and whatever cost-effectiveness estimates they can get their hands on to elbow their way into the hearts and minds of the global policymakers, government officials, and donors.