Skip to main content
Skip to McMaster Navigation Skip to Site Navigation Skip to main content
McMaster logo
CUPE work action information and updates

Visit McMaster's Labour Updates website for information on the current work action by CUPE Local 3906, Unit 1

Kapiriri Lydia, Professor

photo of Lydia Kapiriri

Lydia Kapiriri

Professor

Members
Institute on Globalization & the Human Condition

Faculty
Department of Health Aging & Society

Area(s) of Interest:

Biography

For countries with limited health-care resources, setting priorities necessitates hard decisions. How does HIV/AIDS stack up against maternal health? Where does cancer treatment fit into the mix? What about emergency services?

Lydia Kapiriri studies the factors that influence government decisions on these types of issues. In theory, decision makers can access data of many types to ensure their resources help the largest number of people in the most efficient way possible. But in reality, political influences often subvert the principles of equity and social justice.

Much of Kapiriri’s research involves low-income countries with more obvious resource limitations. But every country has a limited health-care budget – countries with more resources face more demands. Whether it’s Uganda or Canada, every country makes choices and faces conflicts when setting health-care priorities.

Kapiriri’s research offers a critical perspective of resource allocation, questioning what factors other than evidence-based decision making must be unpacked in order to make improvements in healthcare systems. How can vulnerable or marginalized populations have a say in decisions? What role to international organizations like the WHO play in internal priority setting? What processes can help promote transparency and accountability?

For older people, these decisions can become even more complex: an aging population both places more demands on a health-care system, and also plays into prejudicial attitudes toward the elderly. Kapirir addresses these kinds of issues with rigorous fieldwork and astute analysis, driving toward processes that allow for the most equitable allocation of limited resources.

Research


The Impact of priority setting on pandemic preparedness and response: A Global comparative analysis of the role of priority setting and equity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kapiriri, Lydia (PI); Essue, Beverley (Co-PI); Williams, Iestyn (Co-I); Goold, Susan (Co-I); Danis, Marion (Co-I); Sandman, Lars (Co-I); Nouvet, Elysee (Co-I); Biemba, Godfrey (Co-I); Abelson, Julia (Co-I); Kiwanuka, Suzanne (Co-I); Ssengooba, Freddie (Co-I); Nedlund, Ann-Charlotte (Co-I); Gibson, Jennifer (Co-I); Rulisa, Alexis (Co-I); Aguilera, Bernardo (Collaborator)

Funded by MCMASTER COVID-19 RESEARCH FUND Stream 2- Research Aimed at Longer-term Outcomes

Lay summary: 

Priority setting(PS) and resource allocation decisions determine which interventions, programs or people should receive the available resources (ie. vaccines, therapeutics, PPE, ventilators or ICU beds). In cases when resources are inadequate, these decisions can be tragic for some populations. It is important that the decisions are equitable. An international and interdisciplinary team will conduct a global comparative study in 90 countries and 13 Canadian provinces’ and territories’ pandemic plans to assess how PS, equity and social justice are included. The findings will support the inclusion of fair PS and resource allocation in COVID-19 pandemic response, recovery and future plans globally.