The political context of national digital health policy formulation: Insights from Ghana

Akwesi Acquah () and Danielle Nel-Sanders ()

Asian Development Policy Review, 2025, vol. 13, issue 1, 127-140

Abstract: Globally, governments are formulating national digital health policies to guide the implementation and regulation of digital technology in their health sectors. Although sufficient evidence focusing on the technical context of formulating national digital health policies exists, research focusing on the political context of national digital health policies and the role of political actors during the development of national digital health policies is limited. This study sought to bridge this gap by investigating the political context of Ghana’s formulation of national digital health policy and the role of key political actors in the policy decision-making process. The study adopted a qualitative research approach involving data triangulation of semi-structured interviews with political elites involved in the national digital health formulation process and a document analysis of Ghana’s digital health policy. The study used thematic and content analyses as well as systems theory constructions to show that Ghana's digital health policy development is influenced by structured policy inputs, consistent procedures, measurable results, and strong feedback systems. The study recommends a paradigm shift from the vertical approach of national digital health policymaking to a lateral approach, which brings key stakeholders on board from the onset of the process for developing digital health policy.

Keywords: Digital government; Digital health policy; Digital technology; Policy formulation; Political elites; Political environment; Systems theory. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://archive.aessweb.com/index.php/5008/article/view/5360/8227 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:asi:adprev:v:13:y:2025:i:1:p:127-140:id:5360

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Asian Development Policy Review from Asian Economic and Social Society
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Robert Allen ().