Table 1 Health policy and systems research priorities ranking in Bahrain, Jordan, and Tunisia

Bahrain (n = 17)

Continuous assessment of the quality of services

1

2.58 (0.26)

Research on the existing health system building blocks

1

2.34 (0.33)

National health-related policies

2

2.51 (0.25)

Identification of health topics of national, regional, and global importance

2

2.31 (0.41)

Accessibility to health services

3

2.46 (0.57)

Succession planning

3

2.31 (0.41)

Cost effective budget allocation

4

2.44 (0.52)

Sustainability – maximum value of money spent

5

2.44 (0.53)

Jordan (n = 14)

Rational drug use

1

2.74 (0.37)

Universal health insurance

1

2.42 (0.34)

Migration of qualified healthcare providers

2

2.73 (0.38)

Regulation of private health sector

2

2.39 (0.74)

Primary healthcare

3

2.71 (0.20)

Out-of-pocket health expenditure

3

2.25 (0.38)

Retention of healthcare providers especially in remote areas

4

2.71 (0.40)

Non-communicable disease management

5

2.69 (0.32)

Health management information system

6

2.69 (0.38)

Tunisia (n = 18)

Primary healthcare

1

2.53 (0.36)

Coherency between what is declared and what is done

1

2.02 (0.39)

Maternal and child health

2

2.41 (0.32)

Universal coverage

2

2.01 (0.53)

Health system governance

3

2.35 (0.43)

Complementarity between public and private sector

3

1.96 (0.40)

Non-communicable disease prevention and control

4

2.34 (0.33)

Sexually transmitted diseases and HIV

5

2.31 (0.41)

Human resources for health: training

6

2.31 (0.41)