Implementing public health regulations in developing countries: lessons from the OECD countries

Developing country efforts to enforce basic public health standards are often hindered by limited agency resources and poorly designed enforcement mechanisms, including excessive reliance on slow and erratic judicial systems. Traditional public health regulation can therefore be difficult to implement. This article examines innovative approaches to the implementation of public health regulations that have emerged in recent years within the OECD countries. These approaches aim to improve compliance with health standards among the different actors while reducing dependence on the legal system and the administrative resources of public health agencies in developing countries. Developing countries may find some useful lessons from these approaches that can be adapted for use in their own institutional settings.