Aku Kwamie
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 6331102 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Aku Kwamie |
| PRENOMES | Aku |
| SOBRENOME | Kwamie |
| ASSINATURA | KWAMIE A |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0998-4985 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 14 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 4 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 14 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2016 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 1 |
Advancing health policy and systems research and analysis
Health systems are at a crossroads. Globally, health systems are straining under the weight of responding to persistent and emergent challenges. Uncertainties in health financing, service delivery, new technologies and disease burdens are hindering health systems abilities to maximize collective and scaled action to achieve health equity and social justice. In March 2025, a group of health policy and systems experts were convened by an organizati…
Prioritising and including children in intersectoral policymaking
Despite strong commitments to improving children’s well-being, nearly a third of Ghanaian children aged 36–59 months are not developmentally on track, with additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Improvements in children’s health and well-being rely on effective intersectoral policies, however, not enough is known about how to achieve this in practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We report on a case study of part…
Prepared for the polycrisis? The need for complexity science and systems thinking to address global and national evidence gaps
The Sustainable Development Goals are far off track. The convergence of global threats such as climate change, conflict and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic—among others—call for better data and research evidence that can account for the complex interactions between these threats. In the time of polycrisis, global and national-level data and research evidence must address complexity. Viewed through the lens of ‘systemic risk’, there i…
Using systems thinking to generate novel research questions for the evaluation of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation policies
Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes have been recommended by the WHO, introduced in over 85 countries, and assessed through an increasing number of evaluations. However, few studies have applied systems thinking to generate questions exploring the range of ways in which an SSB tax, and the system within which it is embedded, have adapted to one another over time. We demonstrate how adopting this perspective could advance the field. A systems thi…
Development of the Systems Thinking for Health Actions framework
BACKGROUND: Systems thinking is an approach that views systems with a holistic lens, focusing on how components of systems are interconnected. Specifically, the application of systems thinking has proven to be beneficial when applied to health systems. Although there is plenty of theory surrounding systems thinking, there is a gap between the theoretical use of systems thinking and its actual application to tackle health challenges. This study ai…
Making progress in early-career publishing
Mentorship is vital for early-career researchers, especially women from low- and middle-income countries seeking to publish their work. This paper explores the evolution of the Women’s Publication Mentorship Programme, a collaborative initiative pioneered by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, further strengthened through the partnership of Health Systems Global, and Health Policy and Planning. Over a span of five years and encom…
Whole of government and whole of society approaches
A health systems resilience research agenda
Health system resilience, known as the ability for health systems to absorb, adapt or transform to maintain essential functions when stressed or shocked, has quickly gained popularity following shocks like COVID-19. The concept is relatively new in health policy and systems research and the existing research remains mostly theoretical. Research to date has viewed resilience as an outcome that can be measured through performance outcomes, as an ab…
Applied systems thinking
While systems thinking has been generally acknowledged as important to the field of health policy and systems research (HPSR), it remains underutilized. In particular, systems thinking has been perceived as predominantly conceptual, with fewer applications of systems thinking documented. This commentary makes three key points, namely that (1) advances in applied systems thinking in HPSR have been hindered by an imprecision in terminology, conflat…
A future for the world's children? A WHO–Unicef–Lancet Commission
Despite dramatic improvements in survival, nutrition, and education over recent decades, today's children face an uncertain future. Climate change, ecological degradation, migrating populations, conflict, pervasive inequalities, and predatory commercial practices threaten the health and future of children in every country. In 2015, the world's countries agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet nearly 5 years later, few countries ha…
Supporting early-career mentorship for women in Health Policy and Systems Research
Why support for early-career women researchers from low-and middle-income countries is still needed to publish their work
Strategic leadership capacity building for Sub-Saharan African health systems and public health governance
Leadership capacity needs development and nurturing at all levels for strong health systems governance and improved outcomes. The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) is a professional, interdisciplinary terminal degree focused on strategic leadership capacity building. The concept is not new and there are several programmes globally–but none within Africa, despite its urgent need for strong strategic leadership in health. To address this gap, a consor…
Postings and transfers in the Ghanaian health system
These findings point to tensions between individual and organisational goals. This article contributes to a burgeoning literature on postings and transfers as a distinct dynamic which bridges the interactions between health systems governance and health workforce development. Importantly, this article helps to expand the notion of health systems governance beyond 'good' governance towards understanding governance as a process of negotiation
The path dependence of district manager decision-space in Ghana
The district health system in Ghana today is characterized by high resource-uncertainty and narrow decision-space. This article builds a theory-driven historical case study to describe the influence of path-dependent administrative, fiscal and political decentralization processes on development of the district health system and district manager decision-space. Methods included a non-exhaustive literature review of democratic governance in Ghana, …
The path dependence of district manager decision-space in Ghana
The district health system in Ghana today is characterized by high resource-uncertainty and narrow decision-space. This article builds a theory-driven historical case study to describe the influence of path-dependent administrative, fiscal and political decentralization processes on development of the district health system and district manager decision-space. Methods included a non-exhaustive literature review of democratic governance in Ghana, …
Strategic leadership capacity building for Sub-Saharan African health systems and public health governance
Leadership capacity needs development and nurturing at all levels for strong health systems governance and improved outcomes. The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) is a professional, interdisciplinary terminal degree focused on strategic leadership capacity building. The concept is not new and there are several programmes globally–but none within Africa, despite its urgent need for strong strategic leadership in health. To address this gap, a consor…
The path dependence of district manager decision-space in Ghana
The district health system in Ghana today is characterized by high resource-uncertainty and narrow decision-space. This article builds a theory-driven historical case study to describe the influence of path-dependent administrative, fiscal and political decentralization processes on development of the district health system and district manager decision-space. Methods included a non-exhaustive literature review of democratic governance in Ghana, …
Postings and transfers in the Ghanaian health system
These findings point to tensions between individual and organisational goals. This article contributes to a burgeoning literature on postings and transfers as a distinct dynamic which bridges the interactions between health systems governance and health workforce development. Importantly, this article helps to expand the notion of health systems governance beyond 'good' governance towards understanding governance as a process of negotiation
Strategic leadership capacity building for Sub-Saharan African health systems and public health governance
Leadership capacity needs development and nurturing at all levels for strong health systems governance and improved outcomes. The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) is a professional, interdisciplinary terminal degree focused on strategic leadership capacity building. The concept is not new and there are several programmes globally–but none within Africa, despite its urgent need for strong strategic leadership in health. To address this gap, a consor…
A future for the world's children? A WHO–Unicef–Lancet Commission
Despite dramatic improvements in survival, nutrition, and education over recent decades, today's children face an uncertain future. Climate change, ecological degradation, migrating populations, conflict, pervasive inequalities, and predatory commercial practices threaten the health and future of children in every country. In 2015, the world's countries agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet nearly 5 years later, few countries ha…
Supporting early-career mentorship for women in Health Policy and Systems Research
Why support for early-career women researchers from low-and middle-income countries is still needed to publish their work
A health systems resilience research agenda
Health system resilience, known as the ability for health systems to absorb, adapt or transform to maintain essential functions when stressed or shocked, has quickly gained popularity following shocks like COVID-19. The concept is relatively new in health policy and systems research and the existing research remains mostly theoretical. Research to date has viewed resilience as an outcome that can be measured through performance outcomes, as an ab…
Applied systems thinking
While systems thinking has been generally acknowledged as important to the field of health policy and systems research (HPSR), it remains underutilized. In particular, systems thinking has been perceived as predominantly conceptual, with fewer applications of systems thinking documented. This commentary makes three key points, namely that (1) advances in applied systems thinking in HPSR have been hindered by an imprecision in terminology, conflat…
Whole of government and whole of society approaches
Using systems thinking to generate novel research questions for the evaluation of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation policies
Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes have been recommended by the WHO, introduced in over 85 countries, and assessed through an increasing number of evaluations. However, few studies have applied systems thinking to generate questions exploring the range of ways in which an SSB tax, and the system within which it is embedded, have adapted to one another over time. We demonstrate how adopting this perspective could advance the field. A systems thi…
Development of the Systems Thinking for Health Actions framework
BACKGROUND: Systems thinking is an approach that views systems with a holistic lens, focusing on how components of systems are interconnected. Specifically, the application of systems thinking has proven to be beneficial when applied to health systems. Although there is plenty of theory surrounding systems thinking, there is a gap between the theoretical use of systems thinking and its actual application to tackle health challenges. This study ai…
Making progress in early-career publishing
Mentorship is vital for early-career researchers, especially women from low- and middle-income countries seeking to publish their work. This paper explores the evolution of the Women’s Publication Mentorship Programme, a collaborative initiative pioneered by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, further strengthened through the partnership of Health Systems Global, and Health Policy and Planning. Over a span of five years and encom…
Prioritising and including children in intersectoral policymaking
Despite strong commitments to improving children’s well-being, nearly a third of Ghanaian children aged 36–59 months are not developmentally on track, with additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Improvements in children’s health and well-being rely on effective intersectoral policies, however, not enough is known about how to achieve this in practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We report on a case study of part…
Prepared for the polycrisis? The need for complexity science and systems thinking to address global and national evidence gaps
The Sustainable Development Goals are far off track. The convergence of global threats such as climate change, conflict and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic—among others—call for better data and research evidence that can account for the complex interactions between these threats. In the time of polycrisis, global and national-level data and research evidence must address complexity. Viewed through the lens of ‘systemic risk’, there i…
Advancing health policy and systems research and analysis
Health systems are at a crossroads. Globally, health systems are straining under the weight of responding to persistent and emergent challenges. Uncertainties in health financing, service delivery, new technologies and disease burdens are hindering health systems abilities to maximize collective and scaled action to achieve health equity and social justice. In March 2025, a group of health policy and systems experts were convened by an organizati…
Political science (10 obras) · Medicine (8 obras) · Economics (6 obras) · Public relations (6 obras) · Business (5 obras) · Global Maternal and Child Health (5 obras) · Public health (5 obras) · Complex Systems and Decision Making (4 obras) · Computer Science (4 obras) · Corporate governance (4 obras)