A contemporary approach to developing health policies: the Dubai Health Authority as a case study

Health governance is shifting from reactive decision-making to proactive, evidence-informed policy processes. In Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority's repositioning as a regulator and health-system steward created a need for a more systematic approach to health policy prioritization, development, and evaluation.

Health policy development in Dubai was historically strategy-driven and top-down. Although this supported rapid sectoral growth, it also risked fragmented decision-making, limited cross-system coordination, and inconsistent assessment of policy impact. Drawing on evidence-informed policymaking and Kingdon's multiple streams framework, the Strategy and Governance Department conceptualized policy development as the alignment of policy problems, technically feasible options, and political and stakeholder legitimacy.

The methodology uses the Adjusted Priority Index, a semi-quantitative MCDA-informed agenda-setting tool, to prioritize prospective policy research topics according to legal feasibility, strategic alignment, government directives, risk, opportunity, urgency, and expected impact. Prioritized topics are then proceeded through structured policy labs covering problem definition, policy framework development, stakeholder analysis, situational assessment, benchmarking, alternatives analysis, theory of change, implementation planning, and impact assessment. Policy champions, internal guidelines, and recurring workshops support methodological consistency and institutional capacity.

Early outputs include a three-year health policy agenda, structured policy rationales, transparent prioritization records, stronger cross-departmental coordination, and improved methodological literacy among policy teams and stakeholders. These outputs indicate institutional uptake and implementation readiness, but not final policy effectiveness.

Dubai's experience shows how evidence-informed policy methods can be adapted to a complex and rapidly evolving health system. Formal evaluation is needed to assess implementation quality, policy coherence, and longer-term contributions to health-system performance.