Political Economy Analysis Reveals Challenges Facing Primary Health Care in Eastern and Southern Africa

By HEOR Staff Writer

May 4, 2023

Investments in health management capacity are important, but improving the environment in which managers operate is equally critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets for health. A political economy analysis conducted in Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda revealed that while decentralization should improve PHC, it has been accompanied by thick bureaucracy, underfunded budgets, weak accountability, and insufficient public administration capacity. The emergence of COVID-19 has highlighted these challenges and underscored the need to address the disconnection between the vision for decentralization and the reality of health managers mired in unhelpful processes and politics.

Reference url

Recent Posts

Shingles vaccine affordability
Shingles Vaccine Affordability and Its Impact on Public Health in South Africa

By João L. Carapinha

July 2, 2026

Shingles vaccine affordability remains a pressing concern as the recombinant zoster vaccine launches in South Africa. This vaccine delivers substantially higher efficacy and longer protection against herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia than the live attenuated version withdrawn in 2024, yet...
cannabis regulatory exploitation
Exposing Cannabis Regulatory Exploitation in Portugal’s Medicinal Sector

By João L. Carapinha

June 30, 2026

Portugal’s medicines regulator INFARMED has been shaken by a major case of cannabis regulatory exploitation in which criminal networks weaponised medicinal cannabis licences to traffic drugs on an industrial scale. Insufficient inspectors, rapid sector growth and the recruitment of former agency ...
HIV prevention access strategies
HIV Prevention Access Strategies Through Collaborative Partnerships in South Africa

By João L. Carapinha

June 6, 2026

HIV prevention access strategies have reached a pivotal moment in South Africa with the imminent launch of lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable administered twice yearly. This coordinated effort directly confronts the country’s immense HIV burden, including 7.8 million people living with the vir...