The social network of international health aid

Power Across the Global Health Landscape: A Network Analysis of Development Assistance 1990-2015

Power distribution across the global health landscape has undergone a fundamental shift over the past three decades. What was once a system comprised largely of bilateral and multilateral institutional arrangements between nation-states evolved into a varied landscape where these traditional actors were joined by a vast assemblage of private firms, philanthropies, non-governmental organizations, public-private partnerships. Financial resources are an explicit power source within global health which direct how, where, and to whom health interventions are delivered, which health issues are (de)prioritised, how and by whom evidence to support policies and interventions is developed, and how we account for progress. Financial resource allocations are not isolated decisions, but rather outputs of negotiation processes and dynamics between actors who derive power from a multiplicity of sources. The aims of this paper are to examine the changes in the global health actor landscape and the shifts in power using data on disbursements of development assistance for health (DAH). A typology of actors was developed from previous literature and refined through an empirical analysis of DAH. The emergent network structure of DAH flows between global health actors and positionality of actors within the network were analysed between 1990 and 2015. The results reflect the dramatic shift in the numbers of actors, relationships between actors, and funding dispersal over this time period. Through a combination of the massive influx of new funding sources and a decrease in public spending, the majority control of financial resources in the DAH network receded from public entities to a vast array of civil society organisations (CSOs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs). The most prominent of these were the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM), which rose to the third and fourth most central positions within the DAH network by 2015.

Global collective action in mental health financing: Allocation of development assistance for mental health in 142 countries, 2000-2015

Collective action between international donors is central to the mobilisation of global solidarity in global health. This is especially important in mental health where resources remain extremely limited. In this paper I investigate global collective action in mental health financing, looking at the responsiveness of international donors to mental health needs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). I analyse factors at the level of recipient countries (needs, interests, policy environment) associated with allocation of development assistance for mental health (DAMH) using a two-part regression model applied to a time series cross-sectional dataset of 142 LMICs between 2000 and 2015. Findings reveal that international donors' disbursements are not well aligned with mental health needs of recipient countries, and, moreover, contextual factors might be playing more prominent roles in resource allocation. Countries are more likely to receive DAMH if they experience significant outbreaks of infectious diseases or have lower gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and lower market openness. Selected recipient countries are more likely to receive higher DAMH amounts per capita if they have lower GDP per capita, higher government health expenditure, or higher mortality rates due to conflicts or natural disasters. Past DAMH recipients are more likely to be selected and, when selected, to receive higher DAMH amounts per capita. My results demonstrate that more holistic collective action amongst international donors is required to address mental health needs in LMICs. Investments should better reflect needs, particularly during and after emergencies such as COVID-19, and could be amplified by leveraging synergies across other health conditions and sectors.

Transnational Networks' Contribution to Health Policy Diffusion: A Mixed Method Study of the PerformanceBased Financing Community of Practice in Africa

BACKGROUND

Transnational networks such as Communities of Practice (CoPs) are flourishing, yet their role in diffusing health systems reforms has been seldom investigated. Over the past decade, performance-based financing (PBF) has rapidly spread in Africa. This study explores how, through the PBF Community of Practice's attributes, structure, and strategies, PBF diffusion was fostered in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

METHODS

Informed by the diffusion entrepreneurs' (DEs) framework dimensions, we used a mixed methods convergent design to investigate how the attributes, structure, and strategies of this community fostered the diffusion of PBF. The quantitative strand of work included firstly a semantic discourse analysis of textual data extracted from CoP's online discussion forum (n=1346 posts). Secondly, the relational data extracted from these 1346 forum posts was examined using social network analysis (SNA). We confronted these quantitative results with a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews (n=40) and data extracted from the CoP's key documentation (n=17).

RESULTS

CoP members' attributes included: representation systems anchored in clinical and economic sciences, strong expectations that the CoP would boost professional visibility and career, and significant health systems knowledge and social resources. The CoP's core group, dominated by high-income country (HIC) members, critically matched PBF principles to major health systems issues in Africa. The broad consensus in online PBF thematic discussions created a strong sense of community, a breeding ground for emulation among CoP members. The CoP also sought to produce and promote experiential knowledge exchanges about PBF amongst African practitioners. Findings from network analyses showed that the promoted Africa-driven community was led by HIC members, although their prominence tended to decrease with time.

CONCLUSION

This empirical research highlighted some of the constituting features, structure, and strategies of policy networks in influencing health policy diffusion. Despite good intentions to disrupt the established governance landscape, influential actors coming from HICs continued to drive the framing, and shaped health systems policy experimentation, emulation, and learning in African countries. Beyond mere knowledge exchange platforms, CoP can act as meaningful transnational policy networks pursuing the diffusion of health systems reforms, such as PBF.

A social network analysis of the organizations focusing on tuberculosis, malaria and pneumonia

In this paper,we present an original study on the use of social media data to analyze the structure of the global health networks (GHNs) relative to health organizations targeted to malaria, tuberculosis (TBC) and pneumonia as well as twitter popularity, evaluating the performance of their strategies in response to the arising health threats. We use a machine learning ensemble classifier and social network analysis to discover the Twitter users that represent organizations or groups active for each disease. We have found evidence that the GHN of TBC is the more mature, active and global. Meanwhile, the networks of malaria and pneumonia are found to be less connected and lacking global coverage. Our analysis validates the use of social media to analyze GHNs and to propose these networks as an important organizational tool in mobilizing the community versus global sustainable development goals.