Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jun 1;11(6):757-767.
doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.212.

Addressing Policy Coherence Between Health in All Policies Approach and the Sustainable Development Goals Implementation: Insights From Kenya

Joy Mauti  1 , Lara Gautier  2   3 , Faith Agbozo  4   1 , Veronica Shiroya  1 , Nasreen S Jessani  5   6   7 , Jale Tosun  8 , Albrecht Jahn  1
Affiliations
Review

Addressing Policy Coherence Between Health in All Policies Approach and the Sustainable Development Goals Implementation: Insights From Kenya

Joy Mauti et al. Int J Health Policy Manag. .

Abstract

Background: Addressing health in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for intersectoral strategies that mutually enhance both health promotion and sustainable development. Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach aims to address this as well as promote ownership among key stakeholders. Kenya was at the forefront of adopting the SDGs and has committed to the HiAP approach in its Health Policy document for the period 2014-2030. This study aims to assess how the adoption of the HiAP approach can leverage on SDGs implementation in Kenya.

Methods: This is an exploratory case study using qualitative data and some descriptive quantitative data. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) eight building blocks for policy coherence on sustainable development was our guiding framework. Qualitative data was derived from a review of relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature, as well as 40 key informant interviews and analyzed in NVIVO. Quantitative data was accessed from the United Nations SDG indicator database and exported to Excel.

Results: Kenya has expressed a strong political commitment to achieving the SDGs and has now adopted HiAP. The study showed that Kenya can leverage on local level implementation and long-term planning horizons that it currently has in place to address the SDGs as it rolls out the HiAP approach. The SDGs could be mapped out against the sectors outlined in the Adelaide statement on HiAP. It is also possible to map out how various ministries could coordinate to effectively address HiAP and SDGs concurrently. Funding for HiAP was not addressed in the OECD framework.

Conclusion: Kenya can advance a HiAP approach by leveraging the ongoing SDGs implementation. This will be made possible by facilitating coordinated intersectoral action both at national and local level. Funding for HiAP is crucial for its propagation, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and can be considered in the budgetary allocations for SDGs.

Keywords: Health Policy; Intersectoral Collaboration; Kenya; LMICs; Sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable Development Goals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. United Nations. Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations; 2015.
    1. Tosun J, Leininger J. Governing the interlinkages between the sustainable development goals: approaches to attain policy integration. Glob Chall. 2017;1(9):1700036. doi: 10.1002/gch2.201700036. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dora C, Haines A, Balbus J. et al. Indicators linking health and sustainability in the post-2015 development agenda. Lancet. 2015;385(9965):380–391. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60605-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Government of South Australia, World Health Organization. Progressing the Sustainable Development Goals through Health in All Policies: Case Studies from Around the World. Adelaide: Government of South Australia; 2017.
    1. Waage J, Yap C, Bell S. et al. Governing the UN sustainable development goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. Lancet Glob Health. 2015;3(5):e251–252. doi: 10.1016/s2214-109x(15)70112-9. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources