BU Research Blog

This week the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (APJPH) accepted our latest paper from our research on the impact of the federalisation of the health care system in Nepal.  This paper ‘COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly federalised health system: capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets’ has Bikesh Koirala as first author [1].

This recently completed study was funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1].  In this larger Nepal Federal Health System Project we studied the effects on the health system of Nepal’s move from a centralised political system to a more federal government structure in 2015.  This joint project was led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, Canterbury Christ Church University and two  higher education institutions in Nepal: MMIHS (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences) and PHASE Nepal. 

This is the seventh paper from our collaboration. Previous papers focused on a wide range of aspects of this interdisciplinary study, including on its methods, participatory policy analysis, the WHO (World Health Organization) health systems building blocks, and public health [2-7].  

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH (Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health)

References:

1. Koirala, B., Rushton, S., Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Basnet, S., Joshi, S., Karki, A., Lee, A., Rijal, B., Simkhada, P., Subedi, M., van Teijlingen, E., Karki, J. (2024) COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly federalised health system: capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (accepted).
2. Sapkota, S., Rushton, S., et al. (2024) Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal. Health Research & Policy Systems, 22 (No.7) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01092-5 .
3. Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2023) Overcoming the Challenges Facing Nepal’s Health System During Federalisation: An Analysis of Health System Building Blocks, Health Research Policy & Systems 21(117) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01033-2
4. Sapkota, S., Dhakal, A.,  et al. (2023) The impact of decentralisation on health systems: a systematic review of reviews. BMJ Global Health 8:e013317. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013317.
5. Sapkota, S., Panday, S., et al. (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of the Nepal Public Health Association 7(1):36-42.
6. Adhikary, P., Balen, J., et al. (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system, Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3 (3): 1-11.
7. Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146