About

Ipchita Bharali is a Policy Analyst in the nascent Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at Duke University. She focuses on the financing of global health, specifically through improved public financial management in low- and middle-income countries. She completed her Masters in Economics from Gauhati University, India, and recently graduated from the mid-career Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program at Duke University. Before joining the MIDP program, she worked for five years for a public sector bank in India on credit delivery, financial inclusion, digital banking, and improving financial literacy for women entrepreneurs and small businesses. She also implemented government programs such as the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program and Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Small and Medium Enterprises, aimed at employment generation and financial inclusion. Additionally, she has worked with Oxfam America's Private Sector Department on tax evasion and financial regulation policies, as well as their Behind the Brands campaign to influence human rights and environmental practices adopted by Fortune 100 food and beverage companies. During her time at Duke University, she worked as a Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant for various faculty members at the Duke Center for International Development. She was also a Project Team Member for the Bass Connections project 'Exploration and Design of Student-led International Rural Electricity Access Projects' from 2015 to 2016.

Research topics

• Business
• Economic growth
• Political Science
• Economics
• Public relations
• Development economics
• Public economics
• Environmental health
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Correction: How can middle-income countries successfully transition away from international health aid?

  PLoS Medicine · 2026-03-23

  articleOpen access

  [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004794.].

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How can middle-income countries successfully transition away from international health aid?

  PLoS Medicine · 2025-11-06 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Recent research has examined factors contributing to the successful transition of middle-income countries away from international health aid. Three factors are especially important: effective leadership, using domestic resources to close the financing gap created by loss of aid, and realigning country systems to new sources of domestic funding.

  PublisherDOI

• Supply-side enablers and bottlenecks in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Madhya Pradesh: A qualitative assessment 

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• What are the key features of an equitable global vaccine strategy for the next pandemic? A qualitative study of pandemic control experts

  Vaccine · 2025-06-11 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant weaknesses in global health multilateralism, particularly in its failure to achieve fair and equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Soon after vaccines were available, huge inequities in vaccination rates between populations in the global north and the global south became apparent. This study explores why multilateralism fell so short during the pandemic and identifies the steps that must be taken now to ensure global vaccine equity in the next pandemic. METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 expert key informants (KIs) worldwide from May 2023 to January 2024, comprising 16 individual interviews and two group interviews (each group interview had two KIs). The experts included representatives of academia, multilateral health and development agencies, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and the pharmaceutical industry. We used a qualitative study design to explore the perspectives, experiences, and insights of global health experts. We used purposive sampling to select participants based on their experience and knowledge of pandemic vaccines and pandemic preparedness. We continued conducting interviews until we had reached theoretical saturation. FINDINGS: Five key themes emerged on why multilateralism fell short when it came to global COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Prioritization of national interests-so-called "vaccine nationalism"-was a barrier to sharing doses. COVAX, the global vaccine sharing mechanism, lacked incentives for high-income and upper-middle-income nations to participate or compulsory mechanisms to make them do so, undercutting its ability to serve as an equitable distribution platform. COVAX also left out important constituents from the decision-making process. Rich countries benefitted from having stronger market power in the global economy due to their established, long-term relationships with the pharmaceutical companies. Inadequate vaccine supply fed into inequitable distribution. Five key themes emerged on ways to avert global vaccine inequity in the next pandemic. Promoting regional self-sufficiency in research and development and vaccine manufacturing is crucial. Building manufacturing capacity cannot be deferred until the next pandemic-it must begin now. International collective action will still be important, especially technology transfer agreements between large companies in the global north and partners in the global south as well as south-south partnerships. Public funding for pandemic vaccine development should include conditionalities that support global access. Finally, new kinds of intellectual property agreements are essential in preparing for the next pandemic. INTERPRETATION: Vaccine nationalism-combined with vaccine supply constraints, the dominance of manufacturing by countries in the global north, and the greater purchasing power of wealthy nations-created a "perfect storm" for rich nations to buy up the supply and to leave COVAX and many low- and middle-income countries at the back of the queue. To prevent such inequity in the next pandemic, regions should build capacity not just in manufacturing vaccines but also in regulatory approval and the financing and procurement of vaccines at scale. Such capacity needs to be built now-it cannot be deferred until the next crisis. FUNDING: This study was funded by a research grant to Duke University from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (https://www.carnegie.org/grants/grants-database/?q=duke&per_page=25#!/grants/grants-database/grant/937399121.0/).

  PublisherDOI

• What are the Key Features of an Equitable Global Vaccine Strategy for the Next Pandemic? A Qualitative Study of Pandemic Control Experts

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• What are the Key Features of an Equitable Global Vaccine Strategy for the Next Pandemic? A Qualitative Study of Pandemic Control Experts

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Strategic Purchasing of Health Services in Senegal

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Strategic Purchasing of Health Services in Sierra Leone

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Lessons on Key Health Service Purchasing Reforms in Nigeria

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Lessons on Strategic Purchasing of Health Services in Kenya

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Gavin Yamey

  45 shared

• Wenhui Mao

  Duke Institute for Health Innovation

  39 shared

• Osondu Ogbuoji

  Duke Institute for Health Innovation

  24 shared

• Kaci Kennedy McDade

  Duke University

  20 shared

• Shashika Bandara

  11 shared

• Hanna Huffstetler

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  11 shared

• Yewande Kofoworola Ogundeji

  Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation

  10 shared

• Judy Rivière

  Duke Institute for Health Innovation

  8 shared

Education

• M.S., Economics

  Gauhati University

• M.A., International Development Policy

  Duke University