Breaking the Deadlock: Public Health Policy Coordination as the Next Step

Abstract

Recent public health crises have revealed the extent to which coordinated government activity is crucial for ensuring the efficacy of public policies aimed at protecting, maintaining and improving the health of the population. The need for coherent and effective interventions in many areas of human activity always comes up against the challenges related to the division of responsibilities, power and jurisdictions inherent in public administration. The recently initiated renewal of public health structures in Canada opens up new possibilities for public health and could foster better coordination of public health efforts. This paper shows, however, that the eventual broadening[e118] HEALTHCARE

¿Qué capacidades requieren las nuevas políticas de innovación y cambio estructural en Uruguay?

“…La capacidad de coordinación es una capacidad estatal clave para las PDP, que implica que el Estado, en su conjunto, tiene la capacidad política y administrativa para alinear -en función de un objetivo estratégico y de acciones concretas a él asociadas-a diferentes actores que admiten esas reglas de juego porque encuentran fuertes incentivos para ello (Repetto, 2005: 2). A partir de esta definición se puede decir que es preciso no confundir coordinación con colaboración (menos formal que la coordinación) o con el mero intercambio de recursos entre diferentes organizaciones, mucho más limitado en su alcance (Bernier y Burlone, 2007).…”

Extending the realm of health policy with a “new public health” approach: A comparative look at the Canadian and Swedish national experiences

“…In addition to challenges related to determining causality, and even those from the point of view of feasibility, government is not well structured to respond with a ''new public health'' policy. Whereas a new public health policy is meant to be holistic and extend to all spheres of human activities, public administration divides responsibilities, powers and jurisdictions: it is organized horizontally into separate intervention sectors and vertically into distinct administrative levels (Bernier and Burlone 2007). These kinds of horizontal and vertical administrative divisions make it extremely challenging for national authorities to successfully orchestrate national efforts for a new public health policy.…”