You are a Policy advisor to the Minister of Health and you just came back from a one week WHO regional health meeting on health promotion where non-communicable diseases and social determinants of health dominated the meeting’s deliberations. In the final address to the participants, the Chairman of the organising committee called upon the governments to operationalise the international frameworks that guide governments in their efforts to address social determinants of health and non-communicable diseases i.e. adopting the health in all policy approach and implementing tax policies on sugary drinks. Develop a policy brief addressed to the Minister of Health and the parliamentary health committee on how the government can take the lessons from the workshop forward.
a. Choose ONE of the following policy country case studies which were presented as background papers at the regional meeting which you just attended: 1) South Australian case study of the Health in all policies approach or 2) the Mexican experience of sugar tax policy. NOTE: When choosing the case study to analyse, select the one which has not been implemented in your country or state. Thus, do not choose countries where Health in All policies approach and sugar tax policies have already been adopted. If the country of your choice has already implemented both policy scenarios (Health in All Policies and Sugar Tax), contact the Unit Coordinator for an alternative case study option.
b. Drawing on your knowledge of the context of the country you have chosen for this assignment, argue why the government should adopt Health in all policy approach or sugar tax policy.
c. Using a Shiffman’s agenda setting theory, analyse the factors that influenced the adoption of “Health in All Policies approach to address social determinants of health in South Australia,” or “sugar tax policy as one of the actions to address obesity in Mexico.” Use Kingdon’s and/ or Hall’s agenda setting theories to strengthen your analysis.
d. Advice the Minister of Health on the five key lessons which your country can draw from the selected case study.
e. Discuss the precautions that the government should consider in order to ensure a successful adoption of either the Health in All Policies approach or Sugar Tax Policy
f. Provide a reflection on how the assignment deepen your understanding of health policy change and how to influence government decisions to take action on specific health issues.