The ATFR Framework: Accountability, Transparency, Fairness and Redress in Digital Health Governance

This statement sets out the ATFR framework, an original governance framework developed by the author for diagnosing and reforming digital health governance in emerging markets. The framework comprises four dimensions: Accountability, Transparency, Fairness and Redress. It was developed through a structured comparative analysis of digital health governance in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. Its central proposition is that governance failure in emerging markets arises less from the absence of rules than from the absence of the conditions required for those rules to function. The statement defines each dimension, specifies what good governance requires under each, and describes how the framework operates as a diagnostic and sequencing tool through two associated instruments, the Emerging Markets Governance Gap Map and the Reform Playbook. It establishes the framework’s authorship and provides a citable reference for its use in research, policy, and practice.