Dr. Francis Wafula
Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Management
Strathmore University Business School
Prof. Francis (Frank) is an Associate Professor of Health Systems and Policy at the Strathmore Business School.
He also serves the Kenyan Government as the Chairperson of the Kenya Health Human Resource Advisory Council (KHHRAC), an intergovernmental state corporation coordinating all policy matters touching on the health workforce.
Frank worked as a health specialist for the World Bank as the research lead for Aidspan, supporting analyses of Global Fund programs in over 100 supported countries. Frank also spent six years as a health systems researcher at the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme.
Frank holds a PhD in Health Systems and Policy (Open University-UK and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine-LSHTM), a masters in public health (also from LSHTM), and a Pharmacy degree (University of Nairobi), with additional training from various universities globally, including Strathmore Business School (Kenya), IESE Business School (Spain) and Nanyang Business School (Singapore) among others.
Qualifications
PhD in Health Systems and Policy from the University of London – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK and the Open University-UK.
Masters in Public Health from the University of London.
Pharmacy degree from the University of Nairobi.
Frank has worked as a consultant for the UN (UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP etc), the Global Fund, WHO, UK FCDO, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and numerous other NGOs across Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also previously served as faculty at the University of Nairobi.
Frank has been involved in mobilizing funding of over US$ 150 million, with most of the funding going towards strengthening health policy and systems research and programs in areas like entrepreneurship and innovation, governance and regulation, patient safety and quality management, public private partnerships and health products and technologies management.
Frank’s expertise spans key health systems strengthening areas, including policy and governance of health systems, regulation, human resource for health, innovation and entrepreneurship in healthcare, operations and quality management in health, e-commerce in healthcare, pharmaceutical policy and supply chain management, healthcare financing, health services delivery, and public and private engagement and collaboration in health.
Frank serves on various other boards, including Population services Kenya (PSKenya) and the Children Sickle Cell Foundation (CSSF). He serves on the UK National Institute for Health Research (NHIR) Health Policy and Systems Research funding committee and is the health advisor to Meghraj Capital.
To Contact Prof. Francis: fwafula@strathmore.edu
Health systems strengthening broadly, particularly policy and governance of health systems, regulation, accreditation and quality management in health, pharmaceutical policy and supply chain management, health services delivery, and public and private partnerships in health
Mahat A, Dhillon I, Benton D, Fletcher M, Wafula F: Prioritizing national health goals in development and operation of health practitioner regulation: a necessary step toward achieving UHC and Health Security (Bull WHO, in press)
Miller R, Wafula F, Rakesh P, Faleye B, Duggan C, Pinto GS, Heitkamp P, Rana N, Klinton S, Sulis G, Oga-Omenka C, Pai M (2023). Pharmacy engagement in TB prevention and care: not if, but how? BMJ Global Health 2023;8:e013104
Chege T, Wafula F, Tama E, Khayoni I, Ogira D, Gitau N and Goodman C. How much does effective health facility inspection cost? An analysis of the economic costs of Kenya’s Joint Health Inspection innovations. BMC Health Services Research (2022) 22:1351. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08727-3
Wafula F, Feeny T, Open Phences. 2022. The strength of weak bonds: using a novel ecosystem approach to promote public sector scaling of innovations (Frontiers in Public Health, doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1027652)
Wafula F, Onoka C, Musiega A, Okpani A, Ogira D, Ejughemre U, Miller R, Goodman C, Hanson K (2022) Healthcare clinic and pharmacy chains in Kenya and Nigeria: A qualitative exploration of the opportunities and risks they present for healthcare regulatory systems (International J of Planning & Management, 2022 Aug 18. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3560)
Wafula F et al: Examining the quality of medicines at Kenyan facilities: A Validation of an Alternative Post-Market Surveillance Model That Uses Standardized Patients (Drugs Real World Outcomes. 2017 Mar;4(1):53-63)
Oluoch-Aridi J, Adams M, Wafula F, Kokwaro G. Eliciting women’s preferences for place of childbirth at a peri-urban setting in Nairobi, Kenya: A discrete choice experiment (PLoS One. 2020 Dec 10;15(12):e0242149).
Bedoya G, Dolinger A, Rogo K, Mwaura N, Wafula F, Coarasa J, Goicoechea A, Das J: Compliance with Infection Prevention and Control Practices in Primary Care Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in 935 Kenyan Health Facilities (Bull WHO, 2017; 95:503-516)
Wafula F. Molyneux, S, Mackintosh, M, Goodman, C. Protecting the public or setting the bar too high? Understanding the causes and consequences of regulatory actions of regulators in Kenya (Soc Sci & Med 2013; 97(100): 220–227)
Oluoch-Aridi J, Wafula F, Adams M, Kokwaro G. ‘We just look at the well-being of the baby and not the money required’: a qualitative study exploring experiences of quality of maternity care among women in Nairobi’s informal settlements in Kenya (BMJ Open. 2020 Sep 6;10(9):e036966. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-036966)
Daniels B…[-]..Wafula F, Das J: Use of standardised patients to assess quality of healthcare in Nairobi, Kenya: a pilot, cross-sectional study with international comparisons (BMJ Glob Health. 2017 Jun 10;2(2):e000333.).
Wafula F. Abuya, T., Amin, A., Goodman, C. The policy-practice gap: describing discordances between regulation on paper & real-life practices among specialized drug shops in Kenya (BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:394)
Wafula F, Marwa C, McCoy D: Implementing Global Fund programs: a survey of opinions and experiences of the Principal Recipients from 69 countries (Globalization and Health 2014, 10:15)
Wafula F, Agweyu A, Macintyre K: Regional and temporal trends in malaria commodity costs: an analysis of Global Fund data for 79 countries. (Malaria Journal 2013, 12:466)
Wafula F, Agweyu A, Macintyre K. Procurement cost trends for HIV and AIDS commodities: a seven-year retrospective analysis of Global Fund data in 125 countries (Journal of Acq Imm Deficiency Syndr-JAIDS 2013, 65:4)
Bruen C, Brugha R, Kageni A, Wafula F. A Concept in Flux: Questioning Accountability in the Context of Global Health Cooperation (Globalization and Health, 2014, 10:73).
Wafula F. Abuya, T., Amin, A., Goodman, C. Availability and dispensing practices for antimalarials and antimicrobials in Western Kenyan pharmacies (Pharm Regulatory Affairs 2013, 2:1)
Gueye CS, Teng A, Kinyua K, Wafula F, Gosling R, McCoy D: Parasites and vectors carry no passport: how to fund cross-border and regional efforts to achieve malaria elimination (Malaria Journal 2012, 11:344)
Wafula F. Miriti, E., Goodman, C. Examining characteristics, knowledge and regulatory practices of specialized drug shops in Sub-Saharan Africa (BMC Health Services Research 2012, 12:223)
