Political economy analysis of primary health care-oriented reforms: a case study on New Zealand

Overview

This case study set out to identify the political economy factors that shaped New Zealand’s Health Strategy and Primary Health Care (PHC) Strategy across its different stages – from agenda-setting to implementation and eventual sustainability. The case study describes the nature of New Zealand’s PHC-oriented health system reform and the political economy dynamics across four key periods between 2000 and 2020: agenda-setting and policy design period; policy implementation and backlash period; the global financial crisis and meso-level structure period; and the review and expansion period. The case study is part of the Political Economy Analysis of Primary Health Care–oriented Reforms Country Case Study Series of WHO’s PHC Implementation Solutions Initiative. The initiative aims to explore how countries have achieved success in scaling up PHC-oriented health systems by documenting and sharing lessons from the vantage point of policy-makers and practitioners across contexts.