Providing an introduction to the way health policies are made and who influences them, this book combines a comparative analytical framework for understanding health policy with a wide range of examples of actual policy choices from North and South. In its exploration of power, the book focuses on the role of the state in the context of interest groups and other actors. It looks at the nature of political systems and the extent to which participation is encouraged. It also explores issues of global influence, asking how far the North shapes health policies in the South. In its exploration of processes, the book asks how issues get on to the policy agenda, what the processes of formulation are and who the influential actors are.

This policy-relevant study grew out of an evaluation conducted by its authors - all scholars at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam - of the World Health Organization's Action Programme on Essential Drugs. Their review, involving 13 country studies and WHO's five regional offices, looks at how the idea of a rational drug policy in developing countries came about, evaluates the achievements in specific countries, and discusses some of the issues that remain to be resolved - particularly issues around AIDs, contraception and cost recovery. It should prove useful to policy makers and academics, teachers and students, managers and professionals, as well as international agencies in the health field.