Fiji's health management reforms: (1999-2004). A case study

This paper reports on a study which analysed the policy implementation experience of the Fiji Health Management Reform Project FHRMP (1999-2004). It is the first in a series of several papers that discuss the policy experience of Fiji's Management Reforms. The paper outlines the methodology and approach to the study and highlights the importance of recognizing linkages between institutional actors, policy culture and wider contextual environmental factors in the health sector and their impact on health reform implementation. The study utilised a health policy framework to answer questions related to the health reform implementation experience. The framework included recognition that while there were always technical complexities behind the policy reform programme, the main factor in determining the degree of reform changes in Fiji was the relationship between the policy and the stakeholders and their influence on each other and the policy process. The study highlights the importance of health policy analysis for developing countries like Fiji and for other nations in the Pacific who have undertaken reform initiatives.