Prof Barbara McPake

Health economist specialising in health policy and systems research. 30 years’ experience in these areas based in four university departments.

Currently Director, Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne and one of two Research Directors of ‘ReBUILD’ a UK Department for International Development funded Research Programme Consortium on health systems development.. Formerly, Director, Institute for International Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh (2005-2014) Programme Director, Health Systems Development Knowledge Programme (also funded by DFID) (2001-6) and Head of Health Policy Unit (2001-4) at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Extensive research degree supervision and other postgraduate teaching experience. Extensive international experience in health systems research and policy analysis and advice to UN agencies and low and middle income country governments.

Find out more about Barbara McPake's experience

Barbara McPake's highlights

FEATURED Journal article

Community Health Workers as Influential Health System Actors and not "Just Another Pair Of Hands".

Barbara McPake's selected work

Supporting Participatory Evidence Generation To Control Transmissible Diseases In Our Regi..

Research Grant

Public stewardship of private healthcare key to achieving universal health coverage

NEWS ARTICLE

Progress towards reducing sociodemographic disparities in breastfeeding outcomes in Indone..

Journal article

Supporting Participatory Evidence Generation To Control Transmissible Diseases In Our Regi..

Research Grant

Will the new global goals do it for women?

NEWS ARTICLE

The distinctive roles of urban community health workers in low- and middle-income countrie..

Journal article

Projects

Displaying the 5 most recent projects by Barbara McPake.

Supporting Participatory Evidence Generation To Control Transmissible Diseases In Our Region Using Modelling (Spectrum)

2019 - 2024

Active

Supporting Participatory Evidence Generation To Control Transmissible Diseases In Our Region Using Modelling (Spectrum)

2019 - 2024

Active

Supporting Participatory Evidence Generation To Control Transmissible Diseases In Our Region Using Modelling (Spectrum)

2019 - 2024

Active

Biographies Of Vulnerability And Resilience

This project aims to investigate the social processes shaping middle-aged women’s vulnerability and resilience to cervical cancer in Indones..

2018 - 2021

Active

Excellence In Noncommunicable Disease Research (Encore) Between Australia And India

2015 - 2019

Completed

5

Projects

Project Types

Research Grant

Internal Research Grant

Scholarly Works

Displaying the 136 most recent scholarly works by Barbara McPake.

Progress towards reducing sociodemographic disparities in breastfeeding outcomes in Indonesia: a trend analysis from 2002 to 2017.

Nurmala Selly Saputri, Belinda Rina Marie Spagnoletti, Alison Morgan, Siswanto Agus Wilopo, Ankur Singh, Barbara McPake, Rifat Atun, Rika Kumala Dewi, John Tayu Lee

Journal article | 2020 | BMC Public Health

BACKGROUND: Improving breastfeeding practice is important for reducing child health inequalities and achieving several Sustainable..

The distinctive roles of urban community health workers in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review of the literature.

Teralynn Ludwick, Alison Morgan, Sumit Kane, Margaret Kelaher, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2020 | Health Policy and Planning

Addressing urban health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been hampered by lack of evidence on effective ..

Impact of Indonesia's national health insurance scheme on inequality in access to maternal health services: A propensity score matched analysis

Kanya Anindya, John Tayu Lee, Barbara McPake, Siswanto Agus Wilopo, Christopher Millett, Natalie Carvalho

Journal article | 2020 | Journal of Global Health

Background: Reducing inequality in maternal, neonatal and infant mortality are key targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. T..

Physical multimorbidity, health service use, and catastrophic health expenditure by socioeconomic groups in China: an analysis of population-based panel data

Yang Zhao, Rifat Atun, Brian Oldenburg, Barbara McPake, Shenglan Tang, Stewart W Mercer, Thomas E Cowling, Grace Sum, Vicky Mengqi Qin, John Tayu Lee

Journal article | 2020 | The Lancet Global Health

BACKGROUND: Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more mental or physical chronic non-communicable diseases, is a major challenge..

Rural and urban differences in health system performance among older Chinese adults: cross-sectional analysis of a national sample

Vicky Mengqi Qin, Barbara McPake, Magdalena Z Raban, Thomas E Cowling, Riyadh Alshamsan, Kee Seng Chia, Peter C Smith, Rifat Atun, John Tayu Lee

Journal article | 2020 | BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH

BACKGROUND: Despite improvement in health outcomes over the past few decades, China still experiences striking rural-urban health ..

Community Health Workers as Influential Health System Actors and not "Just Another Pair Of Hands".

Sumit Kane, Anjali Radkar, Mukta Gadgil, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2020 | International Journal of Health Policy and Management

BACKGROUND: Over the last 20 years, community health workers (CHWs) have become a mainstay of human resources for health in many l..

Strengthening routine immunization in Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional provincial assessment of front-line services

Christopher J Morgan, Olga PM Saweri, Nicholas Larme, Elizabeth Peach, Pele Melepia, Lucy Au, Michelle JL Scoullar, Mohammad Salim Reza, Lisa M Vallely, Barbara McPake, James G Beeson

Journal article | 2020 | BMC PUBLIC HEALTH

BACKGROUND: Routine immunization programs face many challenges in settings such as Papua New Guinea with dispersed rural populatio..

The Impact of Leaving Camps on Well-being of Internally Displaced Persons in Northern Uganda

Fu-Min Tseng, Barbara McPake, Ijeoma Edoka

Journal article | 2019 | South African Journal of Economics

Implications of multimorbidity patterns on health care utilisation and quality of life in middle-income countries: cross-sectional analysis

Grace Sum, Chris Salisbury, Gerald Choon-Huat Koh, Rifat Atun, Brian Oldenburg, Barbara McPake, Sukumar Vellakkal, John Tayu Lee

Journal article | 2019 | Journal of Global Health

Hypoxaemia in hospitalised children and neonates: A prospective cohort study in Nigerian secondary-level hospitals.

Hamish Graham, Ayobami A Bakare, Adejumoke I Ayede, Oladapo B Oyewole, Amy Gray, David Peel, Barbara McPake, Eleanor Neal, Shamim A Qazi, Rasa Izadnegahdar, Trevor Duke, Adegoke G Falade

Journal article | 2019 | EClinicalMedicine

Background: Hypoxaemia is a common complication of pneumonia and a major risk factor for death, but less is known about hypoxaemia..

Oxygen systems to improve clinical care and outcomes for children and neonates: A stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial in Nigeria

Hamish R Graham, Ayobami A Bakare, Adejumoke Ayede, Amy Z Gray, Barbara McPake, David Peel, Olatayo Olatinwo, Oladapo B Oyewole, Eleanor FG Neal, Cattram D Nguyen, Shamim A Qazi, Rasa Izadnegahdar, John B Carlin, Adegoke G Falade, Trevor Duke

Journal article | 2019 | PLOS Medicine

BACKGROUND: Improving oxygen systems may improve clinical outcomes for hospitalised children with acute lower respiratory infectio..

The need for cost-effective and affordable responses for the global epidemic of non-communicable diseases

Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2019 | The Lancet Global Health

Health workers' strikes in low-income countries: the available evidence.

Giuliano Russo, Lihui Xu, Michelle McIsaac, Marcelle Diane Matsika-Claquin, Ibadat Dhillon, Barbara McPake, James Campbell

Journal article | 2019 | Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Objective: To analyse the characteristics, frequency, drivers, outcomes and stakeholders of health workers' strikes in low-income ..

Never again? Challenges in transforming the health workforce landscape in post-Ebola West Africa

Barbara McPake, Prarthna Dayal, Christopher H Herbst

Journal article | 2019 | Human Resources for Health

The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning ModuleAccuracy, Inter-Rater Reliability and Cut-Off Level for Disability Disaggregation of Fiji's Education Management Information System

Beth Sprunt, Barbara McPake, Manjula Marella

Journal article | 2019 | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases: lessons from the HIV experience

Seye Abimbola, Emma Thomas, Stephen Jan, Barbara McPake, Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Brian Oldenburg

Journal article | 2019 | Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Socio-economic status and behavioural and cardiovascular risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional survey

Patricia Rarau, Justin Pulford, Hebe Gouda, Suparat Phuanukoonon, Chris Bullen, Robert Scragg, Nguyen Pham Bang, Barbara McPake, Brian Oldenburg

Journal article | 2019 | PLOS ONE

What, why and how do health systems learn from one another? Insights from eight low- and middle-income country case studies

Sophie Witter, Ian Anderson, Peter Annear, Abiodun Awosusi, Nitin N Bhandari, Nouria Brikci, Blandine Binachon, Tata Chanturidze, Katherine Gilbert, Charity Jensen, Tomas Lievens, Barbara McPake, Snehashish Raichowdhury, Alex Jones

Journal article | 2019 | Health Research Policy and Systems

Socio-cultural change in conflict and post conflict settings: five decades of giving birth in Cambodia.

Bandeth Ros, Gillian Lê, Suzanne Fustukian, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2019 | Conflict and Health

Background: This paper explores the changing experience of giving birth in Cambodia over a 53-year period. During this time, Cambo..

Correction: Socio-economic status and behavioural and cardiovascular risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional survey.

Patricia Rarau, Justin Pulford, Hebe Gouda, Suparat Phuanukoonnon, Chris Bullen, Robert Scragg, Bang Nguyen Pham, Barbara McPake, Brian Oldenburg

Journal article | 2019 | PLOS ONE

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211068.].

Standard of Living and Disability in Cambodia

M Palmer, J Williams, B McPake

Journal article | 2019 | The Journal of Development Studies

Little is known about the extra costs faced by households with disabled members in low resource settings and the impact of these c..

Health policy and system support to optimise community health worker programmes: an abridged WHO guideline

Giorgio Cometto, Nathan Ford, Jerome Pfaffman-Zambruni, Elie A Akl, Uta Lehmann, Barbara McPake, Madeleine Ballard, Maryse Kok, Maisam Najafizada, Abimbola Olaniran, Onyema Ajuebor, Henry B Perry, Kerry Scott, Bianca Albers, Aron Shlonsky, David Taylor

Journal article | 2018 | The Lancet Global Health

Australian health professionals' statement on climate change and health

Kerry Arabena, Fiona Armstrong, Helen Berry, Peter Brooks, Tony Capon, Brendan Crabb, Alessandro Demaio, Peter Doherty, Sharon Lewin, Selina Lo, Alan Lopez, Celia McMichael, Barbara McPake, Rob Moodie, Terry Nolan, Tilman Ruff, Peter Sainsbury, Linda Selvey, David Shearman, Fiona Stanley, et al.

Journal article | 2018 | The Lancet

Support for UNRWA's survival.

Karl Blanchet, Abbas El-Zein, Ana Langer, Miho Sato, undefined 159 signatories

Journal article | 2018 | The Lancet

Adoption of paediatric and neonatal pulse oximetry by 12 hospitals in Nigeria: a mixed-methods realist evaluation

Hamish R Graham, Ayobami A Bakare, Amy Gray, Adejumoke Idowu Ayede, Shamim Qazi, Barbara McPake, Rasa Izadnegahdar, Trevor Duke, Adegoke G Falade

Journal article | 2018 | BMJ Global Health

The impact of user charges on health outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Vicky Mengqi Qin, Thomas Hone, Christopher Millett, Rodrigo Moreno-Serra, Barbara McPake, Rifat Atun, John Tayu Lee

Journal article | 2018 | BMJ Global Health

Background: User charges are widely used health financing mechanisms in many health systems in low-income and middle-income countr..

Crunching health expenditure numbers: important but treacherous terrain

Barbara I McPake

Journal article | 2018 | The Lancet Global Health

The commercialization of traditional medicine in modern Cambodia

Bandeth Ros, Gillian Le, Barbara McPake, Suzanne Fustukian

Journal article | 2018 | Health Policy and Planning

Improving oxygen therapy for children and neonates in secondary hospitals in Nigeria: study protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial

Hamish R Graham, Adejumoke I Ayede, Ayobami A Bakare, Oladapo B Oyewole, David Peel, Amy Gray, Barbara McPake, Eleanor Neal, Shamim Qazi, Rasa Izadnegahdar, Adegoke G Falade, Trevor Duke

Journal article | 2017 | TRIALS

Changes in catastrophic health expenditure in post-conflict Sierra Leone: an Oaxaca-blinder decomposition analysis

Ijeoma Edoka, Barbara McPake, Tim Ensor, Rogers Amara, Joseph Edem-Hotah

Journal article | 2017 | International Journal for Equity in Health

Inequalities in investment in malaria research in sub-Saharan Africa: are they inequities?

Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2017 | The Lancet Global Health

Renaming non-communicable diseases

Guanyang Zou, Kristof Decoster, Barbara McPake, Sophie Witter

Journal article | 2017 | The Lancet Global Health

Providing oxygen to children in hospitals: a realist review

Hamish Graham, Shidan Tosif, Amy Gray, Shamim Qazi, Harry Campbell, David Peel, Barbara McPake, Trevor Duke

Journal article | 2017 | BULLETIN OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Impact of health financing policies in Cambodia: A 20 year experience

Tim Ensor, Chhim Chhun, Ton Kimsun, Barbara McPake, Ijeoma Edoka

Journal article | 2017 | Social Science & Medicine

Leaving no one behind: lessons on rebuilding health systems in conflict-and crisis-affected states

Tim Martineau, Barbara McPake, Sally Theobald, Joanna Raven, Tim Ensor, Suzanne Fustukian, Freddie Ssengooba, Yotamu Chirwa, Sreytouch Vong, Haja Wurie, Nick Hooton, Sophie Witter

Journal article | 2017 | BMJ Global Health

Prevalence of non-communicable disease risk factors in three sites across Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study

Patricia Rarau, Gwendalyn Vengiau, Hebe Gouda, Suparat Phuanukoonon, Isi H Kevau, Chris Bullen, Robert Scragg, Ian Riley, Geoffrey Marks, Masahiro Umezaki, Ayako Morita, Brian Oldenburg, Barbara McPake, Justin Pulford

Journal article | 2017 | BMJ Global Health

Health Systems for Aging Societies in Asia and the Pacific

Ajay Mahal, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2017 | Health Systems & Reform

Addressing the Needs of an Aging Population in the Health System: The Australian Case

Barbara McPake, Ajay Mahal

Journal article | 2017 | Health Systems & Reform

Heavy Drinkers' Perspectives on Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol in Scotland: A Qualitative Interview Study

Fiona O'May, Jan Gill, Heather Black, Cheryl Rees, Jonathan Chick, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2016 | SAGE Open

Managing the public-private mix to achieve universal health coverage

Barbara McPake, Kara Hanson

Journal article | 2016 | The Lancet

Free health care for under-fives, expectant and recent mothers? Evaluating the impact of Sierra Leone's free health care initiative

Ijeoma Edoka, Tim Ensor, Barbara McPake, Rogers Amara, Fu-Min Tseng, Joseph Edem-Hotah

Journal article | 2016 | Health Economics Review

Implications of dual practice for universal health coverage

Barbara McPake, Giuliano Russo, David Hipgrave, Krishna Hort, James Campbell

Journal article | 2016 | BULLETIN OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

The enigma of 'harmful' alcohol consumption: evidence from a mixed methods study involving female drinkers in Scotland

Jan S Gill, Robert Rush, Heather Black, Fiona P O'May, Jonathan Chick, Cheryl Rees, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2016 | Perspectives in Public Health

Alcohol purchasing by ill heavy drinkers; cheap alcohol is no single commodity

J Gill, J Chick, H Black, C Rees, F O'May, R Rush, BA McPake

Journal article | 2015 | Public Health

The Economics of Health Professional Education and Careers: Insights from a Literature Review

Barbara McPake, Allison Squires, Mahat Agya, Edson Araujo

Book | 2015

Cost-effectiveness of community-based practitioner programmes in Ethiopia, Indonesia and Kenya

Barbara McPake, Ljeoma Edoka, Sophie Witter, Karina Kielmann, Miriam Taegtmeyer, Marjolein Dieleman, Kelsey Vaughan, Elvis Gama, Maryse Kok, Daniel Datiko, Lillian Otiso, Rukhsana Ahmed, Neil Squires, Chutima Suraratdecha, Giorgio Cometto

Journal article | 2015 | Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Essential surgery: key messages from Disease Control Priorities, 3rd edition

Charles N Mock, Peter Donkor, Atul Gawande, Dean T Jamison, Margaret E Kruk, Haile T Debas

Report | 2015 | The Lancet

Ebola in the context of conflict affected states and health systems: case studies of Northern Uganda and Sierra Leone

Barbara McPake, Sophie Witter, Sarah Ssali, Haja Wurie, Justine Namakula, Freddie Ssengooba

Journal article | 2015 | CONFLICT AND HEALTH

How do dual practitioners divide their time? The cases of three African capital cities

Barbara McPake, Giuliano Russo, Fu-Min Tseng

Journal article | 2014 | SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE

White Cider Consumption and Heavy Drinkers: A Low-Cost Option but an Unknown Price

Heather Black, Lucie Michalova, Jan Gill, Cheryl Rees, Jonathan Chick, Fiona O'May, Robert Rush, Barbara McPake

Journal article | 2014 | Alcohol and Alcoholism

Negotiating markets for health: an exploration of physicians' engagement in dual practice in three African capital cities

Giuliano Russo, Barbara McPake, Ines Fronteira, Paulo Ferrinho

Journal article | 2014 | Health Policy and Planning

Universal health coverage reforms: implications for the distribution of the health workforce in low-and middle-income countriess.

Barbara McPake, Ijeoma Edoka

Journal article | 2014 | WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health

To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), a range of health-financing reforms, including removal of user fees and the expansion ..