the UCS was designed to create a governance structure that allows for
better participation (of civil society, patient groups, health-care
professionals and so forth) and a transparent decision-making process.
Therefore, it was essential to include governance in the assessment of how the
UCS performed in its first 10 years in order to identify gaps that need to be filled
to maximize the societal benefits from the scheme.
This assessment focused on the performance of the overall governance of the
UCS and the roles of the governing committees and subcommittees in steering
and implementing the UCS. Strategic purchasing and scheme harmonization
were used as two tracers to assess the power structures and interactions among
policy actors, conflicts of interest and influences over policy decisions. Researchers
used the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP) governance model for the assessment19. According to the model,
there are eight attributes of good governance: accountability, participation,
transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, following the rule of law,
effectiveness and efficiency, and equity and inclusiveness (see Figure 8).