Decision Support Systems for Health: Global South Perspective

Abstract

This chapter maps the health decision support systems in the literature reviewing the current practices in the global south. The link between the evidence generation and evidence utilization in the evidence-based health-related decision making is affected by the capacities on both sides. One of the main challenges in this regard is the lack of a comprehensive view of the system that governs both sides and the policy design process. The author explores this limitation and conducts a scoping review to examine the position of different aspects of evidence-based decision making in the relevant literature. Seven categories of research work were charted: actors, content, context, process, inputs, outputs, and measurements. The chapter concludes that despite the increased efforts, there is room for further development of evidence-based decision making practices in the national health authorities, especially in the global south. More attention is needed to the actual practice, role of policy analysts, and the role of international organizations.