Decentralization and Health Policy in South Asia: A Comparative Approach (Routledge Global Health Series)

This ambitious and insightful book provides a unique regional perspective on health policy across South Asia, focusing on how the decentralization of policy and governance leads to differing health outcomes across different countries in the region.

Comparing the contexts and outcomes in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the book asks how power sharing arrangements between central and subnational layers of government nevertheless result in varying levels of success across issues such as infant and under-five mortality rates. The book argues that it is the role of central government in formulating policy, and how this feeds into regional implementation, that partly explains the disparities in health outcomes across the region.

The book will interest students and scholars of South Asia politics, global health and health policy more generally.

Nisha Bellinger is an Associate Professor of Political Science & Global Studies in the School of Public Service at Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA. Her research focuses on political-economic dynamics both globally as well as in the context of South Asia. Her record of scholarship includes a book titled Governing Human Well-Being: Domestic and International Determinants (2018), several peer-reviewed journal articles, and public scholarship written for a general audience.