"The Actor Is Policy": Application of Elite Theory to Explore Actors' Interests and Power Underlying Maternal Health Policies in Uganda, 2000-2015.

Uganda's maternal health policies were mainly influenced by the elites' personal interests rather than by the goal of reducing maternal mortality. This was enabled by the formal guidance for policy-making which gives elites control over the policy process. Accelerating maternal mortality reduction will require re-engineering the policy process to prevent public officials from infusing policies with their interests, and enable percolation of ideas from the public and frontline.