Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector

In recent years, many countries, both developed and developing, have engaged in a process of decentralization of health service delivery and/or other functions of the health system. In most cases, decentralization has been adopted to improve accoun...

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Main Author:	Couttolenc, Bernard F.
Format:	Publication
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2012
Subjects:	DECENTRALIZATION DEVOLUTION GOVERNANCE HEALTH REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE MOBILIZATION SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SECTORS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16406296/decentralization-governance-ghana-health-sector http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9376

id	okr-10986-9376
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-93762021-04-23T14:02:44Z Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector Couttolenc, Bernard F. DECENTRALIZATION DEVOLUTION GOVERNANCE HEALTH REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE MOBILIZATION SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SECTORS In recent years, many countries, both developed and developing, have engaged in a process of decentralization of health service delivery and/or other functions of the health system. In most cases, decentralization has been adopted to improve accountability to local population, efficiency in service provision, equity in access and resource distribution, or to increase resource mobilization. Ghana has a long history of local government, going back to pre-independence times of the nineteenth century. By 1859 Municipal Councils were established in the major coastal towns of the then Gold Coast. Native Authorities, Councils and Courts were also established to administer law and order under the indirect authority of the colonial government; the limitations of this system was repeatedly put forward in the 1930s and 1940s, and reforms were introduced in 1951 by the Local Government Ordinance (Ahwoi 2010). The government has embarked in a decentralization policy since independence, which was strengthened and amplified by the local government act of 1993 and other legislations. At the present the Government of Ghana (GOG) is committed to strengthen the implementation of decentralization and for that purpose revise and strengthen the policy and regulatory framework governing decentralization. In spite of this long history and successive waves of decentralization reforms, effective decentralization in the country still faces considerable challenges, especially in large social sectors involving large structures. The public health sector is one that has not fully embraced the decentralization model adopted by the GOG, decentralization by devolution to the districts, for a number of reasons that will be discussed in this report. Some functions and responsibilities have been decentralized, but others remain centralized or simply deconcentrated. 2012-07-02T18:18:56Z 2012-07-02T18:18:56Z 2012 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16406296/decentralization-governance-ghana-health-sector 978-0-8213-9589-9 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9376 English A World Bank study CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research :: Publication Africa Ghana
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	DECENTRALIZATION DEVOLUTION GOVERNANCE HEALTH REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE MOBILIZATION SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SECTORS
spellingShingle	DECENTRALIZATION DEVOLUTION GOVERNANCE HEALTH REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE MOBILIZATION SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL SECTORS Couttolenc, Bernard F. Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
geographic_facet	Africa Ghana
relation	A World Bank study
description	In recent years, many countries, both developed and developing, have engaged in a process of decentralization of health service delivery and/or other functions of the health system. In most cases, decentralization has been adopted to improve accountability to local population, efficiency in service provision, equity in access and resource distribution, or to increase resource mobilization. Ghana has a long history of local government, going back to pre-independence times of the nineteenth century. By 1859 Municipal Councils were established in the major coastal towns of the then Gold Coast. Native Authorities, Councils and Courts were also established to administer law and order under the indirect authority of the colonial government; the limitations of this system was repeatedly put forward in the 1930s and 1940s, and reforms were introduced in 1951 by the Local Government Ordinance (Ahwoi 2010). The government has embarked in a decentralization policy since independence, which was strengthened and amplified by the local government act of 1993 and other legislations. At the present the Government of Ghana (GOG) is committed to strengthen the implementation of decentralization and for that purpose revise and strengthen the policy and regulatory framework governing decentralization. In spite of this long history and successive waves of decentralization reforms, effective decentralization in the country still faces considerable challenges, especially in large social sectors involving large structures. The public health sector is one that has not fully embraced the decentralization model adopted by the GOG, decentralization by devolution to the districts, for a number of reasons that will be discussed in this report. Some functions and responsibilities have been decentralized, but others remain centralized or simply deconcentrated.
format	Publications & Research :: Publication
author	Couttolenc, Bernard F.
author_facet	Couttolenc, Bernard F.
author_sort	Couttolenc, Bernard F.
title	Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
title_short	Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
title_full	Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
title_fullStr	Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
title_full_unstemmed	Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector
title_sort	decentralization and governance in the ghana health sector
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16406296/decentralization-governance-ghana-health-sector http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9376
_version_	1764409101980270592

Decentralization and Governance in the Ghana Health Sector

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