New IDS Bulletin on 'Accountability for Health Equity: Galvanising a Movement for Universal Health Coverage'

FHS is pleased to announce the publication of the IDS Bulletin on ‘Accountability for Health Equity: Galvanising a Movement for Universal Health Coverage’.

In July 2017, FHS partnered with the Institute of Development Studies, Health Systems Global, Unequal Voices, the Open Society Foundations and the Impact initiative to organise a workshop on ‘Unpicking Power and Politics for Transformative Change: Towards Accountability for Health Equity’, with the aim of generating dialogue and mutual learning among activists, researchers, policymakers, and funders working towards more equitable health systems and a commitment to Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The IDS Bulletin is based around three principal themes that emerged from the workshop as needing particular attention:

• The nature of accountability politics ‘in time’ and the cyclical aspects of efforts towards accountability for health equity.
• The contested politics of ‘naming’ and measuring accountability, and the intersecting dimensions of marginalisation and exclusion that are missing from current debates.
• The shifting nature of power in global health and new configurations of health actors, social contracts, and the role of technology.

For the first time in IDS Bulletin history, themes are explored not only in text but also through a selection of online multimedia content, including a workshop video, a photo story and a documentary. This expansion into other forms of communication is explicitly aimed at galvanising larger numbers of people in a movement towards UHC and the linked agenda of accountability for health equity.

The articles and multimedia in this IDS Bulletin reflect the fact that while the desired outcome might be the same – better health for all – accountability strategies are as diverse as the contexts in which they have developed.

FHS-related contributions in the IDS Bulletin

• Introduction: Accountability for Health Equity: Galvanising a Movement for Universal Health Coverage Erica Nelson, Gerald Bloom, Alex Shankland

• Key Considerations for Accountability and Gender in Health Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Linda Waldman, Sally Theobald, Rosemary Morgan

• Multi-media content: Unpicking Power and Politics for Transformative Change: Workshop Video Sophie Marsden, Karine Gatellier and Sarah King

Other articles and multimedia in the IDS Bulletin

• Foreword: Accountability for Health Equity: Galvanising a Movement for Universal Health Coverage The International Health Partnership for Core Team
• Introduction to Multimedia Sophie Marsden, Karine Gatellier, Sarah King, Vaishali Zararia, Renu Khanna, Denise Namburete, Erica Nelson
• Health Accountability for Indigenous Populations: Confronting Power through Adaptive Action Cycles Walter Flores, Alison Hernández
• Inverted State and Citizens’ Roles in the Mozambican Health Sector Jose Dias, Tassiana Tomé
• Accountability and Generating Evidence for Global Health: Misoprostol in Nepal Raj Sharma Jeevan, Rekha Khatri, Ian Harper
• The Political Construction of Accountability Keywords Jonathan Fox
• Gendered Dimensions of Accountability to Address Health Workforce Shortages in Northern Nigeria Fatima Lamishi Adamu, Zainab Abdul Moukarim, Nasiru Sa’adu Fakai
• Reducing Health Inequalities in Brazil’s Universal Health-Care System: Accountability Politics in São Paulo Vera Schattan Coelho
• Making Private Health Care Accountable: Mobilising Civil Society and Ethical Doctors in India Abhay Shukla, Abhijit More, Shweta Marathe
• Neglected Tropical Diseases and Equity in the Post-2015 Health Agenda Emma Michelle Taylor, James Smith
• Multi-media content: Enabling Community Action for Maternal Health: A Photo Story Vaishali Zararia, Renu Khanna and Sophie Marsden
• Multi-media content: Holding a Health System to Account: Voices from Mozambique (A Documentary) Denise Namburete and Erica Nelson