Advocacy and policy case studies

The Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (NCAH) Policy 2018, launched today by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Hon. Sicily Kariuki, marks a milestone in Kenya’s efforts to harmonize delivery of comprehensive health care to children from birth through adolescence.

With support from PATH, Kenya's Kakamega County and the MNCH Alliance developed a sustainable model for holding local decision-makers accountable and significantly improved health outcomes and quality of care for women and children.

PATH was pleased to support the Kenyan government in developing and launching policy documents to accelerate rollout of PHC.

Countries have faced difficult choices as they rollout COVID-19 vaccines while catching up on childhood immunizations, but many have found creative solutions along the way.

In 2015, when PATH began advocating for R&D in Kenya, it became clear that there was no real constituency for these efforts. One strong, unified coalition of advocates was needed if the country was to successfully advance R&D advocacy.

With the aim of galvanizing efforts to improve vaccination and stop preventable deaths, PATH partnered with the Gates Foundation, other partners, and the newly elected government to convene a major event focused on driving action on this issue.

When it comes to assessing progress on commitments to improve immunization, Uganda is trailblazing new efforts, including through development of a scorecard to enable accountability.

One year ago, Malawi launched its first National Medical Oxygen Ecosystem Roadmap. It is already helping to close the oxygen access gap.

This case study explains how PATH has tested and evolved an approach to advocating in decentralized settings and highlights notable successes from the subnational level in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Leveraging national advocacy expertise and experience as the civil society representative on the GFF Investors Group, PATH connected global and local leadership and priorities for stronger RMNCAH-N in Kenya.

This policy highlight focuses on PATH's work with the government of the DRC to develop a five-year National Strategic Plan focused on employing tools to screen, test, and treat for sleeping sickness in some of the most remote parts of the country, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the disease.

This case study details how PATH advocates in Kenya's Kakamega County partnered with county government to ensure funding was set aside for a successful maternal and child health program.

This case study details how PATH adapted its tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic, including by leveraging partnerships with local and national level news outlets and journalists to secure primetime spots on national TV in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa to enable Ministry of Health officials to deliver messages on the importance of maintaining essential health services.

This case study details how, working with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, PATH sought to understand the dynamics that contributed to disparities in immunization and elevate solutions to reduce the impact of gender barriers.

This policy highlight details efforts in two provinces in the DRC, Tshopo and Bas-Uele, to pass provincial-level policy frameworks outlining funding methods to ensure essential health services- including immunization- reach those who need them most.

This case study examines the steps PATH took to highlight gaps in immunization coverage and funding in Uganda. This advocacy work resulted in almost doubling the government funding for procurement of traditional vaccines across the country.

For health care providers to make a correct diagnosis, they must be equipped with the right tools, including access to pulse oximetry. These devices are essential for alerting health workers to hypoxemia and the need for urgent treatment, including referral to higher-level facilities and access to oxygen, which can be lifesaving.

This case study details how PATH and partners led civil society advocates in a call for the East African Community (EAC) partner states to emphasize the importance of investing in health R&D in a 2018 joint communiqué—providing a basis for governments to be held accountable for upholding health financing commitments.

The case study highlights a first-of-its kind achievement in the digital health field, Tanzania's Digital Health Investment Road Map, which PATH partnered with the government on. It outlines investment recommendations with the highest potential value and alignment to national priorities, and has served as a model to many other countries.

The listing of a medicine in a national essential medicines list or EML is an important step to ensuring the expected benefits and substantial health impact of a medicine are realized. This case study highlights PATH's advocacy to update Kenya's EML to allow for increased government expenditure for postpartum hemorrhage treatment methods.

This case study highlights PATH efforst to convene a civil society coalition in Zambia that over a three-year period, worked side-by-side with government officials to increase commitment to improving newborn health and institute a series of targeted newborn health policies.

This case study highlights how PATH and partners used the emergence of breastfeeding as a national policy priority in South Africa to demonstrate how human milk banks could provide a safe and effective solution for vulnerable infants without access to their mothers’ breast milk.

This case study highlights how PATH partnered with health advocates in Cambodia and Vietnam to assemble evidence, identify key health decision makers, and convince the ministries of health to prioritize policy changes to improve access to medicines that could reduce the toll of diarrhea.

This case study examines the use of advocacy to reduce newborn infections in Bangladesh, specifically the market advocacy efforts by PATH and the Bangladesh Pediatric Association to engage public and private stakeholders to understand the importance of 7.1 percent chlorhexidine digluconate use.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased oxygen demand pushed Malawi’s medical oxygen systems beyond capacity. PATH partnered with the Malawi Ministry of Health and UNICEF to increase long-term access to this lifesaving resource.