Abstract
BACKGROUND: Power is exercised everywhere in global health, although its presence may be more apparent in some instances than others. Studying power is thus a core concern of researchers and practitioners working in health policy and systems research (HPSR), an interdisciplinary, problem-driven field focused on understanding and strengthening multilevel systems and policies. This paper aims to conduct a power analysis as mobilized by the actors involved in implementation of the polio program. It will also reflect how different power categories are exerted by actors and embedded in strategies to combat program implementation challenges while planning and executing the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. METHODS: We collected quantitative and qualitative data from stakeholders who were part of the Polio universe as a part of Synthesis and Translation of Research and Innovations from the Polio Eradication Project. Key informants were main actors of the polio eradication program, both at the national and sub-national levels. Research tools were designed to explore the challenges, strategies and unintended consequences in implementing the polio eradication program in India. We utilized Moon's expanded typology of power in global governance to analyze the implementation of the polio eradication programme in India. RESULTS: We collected 517 survey responses and conducted 25 key informant interviews. Understanding power is increasingly recognized as an essential parameter to understand global governance and health. Stakeholders involved during polio program implementation have exerted different kinds of power from structural to discursive, moral power wielded by religious leaders to institutional power, expert power used by professional doctors to commoners like female vaccinators, and network power exercised by community influencers. Hidden power was also demonstrated by powerless actors like children bringing mothers to polio booths. CONCLUSION: Power is not a finite resource, and it can be used, shared, or created by stakeholders and networks in multiple ways. Those people who seem to be powerless possess invisible power that can influence decision making. Moreover, these power categories are not mutually exclusive and may be deeply interconnected with each other; one type of power can be transformed into another. Power and relations play an important role in influencing the decision-making of the community and individuals. Mid-range theories of core implementation science like PARIHAS and CFIR can also add an important variable of power in their construct necessary for implementation success of any health program.