While remarkable gains in health have been achieved since the mid-20th century, these have been unequally distributed, and mortality and morbidity burdens in some regions remain enormous. Of the almost 10 million children under 5 years of age who died in 2006, only 100 000 died in industrialised...

In this chapter, we briefly review the overall system of global health governance and its evolution over the last decade, the emerging challenges it faces, its strengths and weaknesses, and how these strengths and weaknesses affect the system’s ability to address tropical diseases in the future.

Despite recent international efforts to increase antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage, more than 5 million people who need ART in developing countries do not receive such treatment. Shortages of human resources to treat HIV/AIDS (referred to herein as HRHA) are one of the main constraints to...

Despite recent international efforts to increase antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage, it is estimated that more than 5 million people who need ART in developing countries do not receive such treatment. Shortages of human resources to treat HIV/AIDS (HRHA) are one of the main constraints to...

The demographic dividend – the one-time economic bonus that can arise, if conditions are right, from a decline in fertility rates – could matter a lot for Sub-Saharan Africa. Rapid population growth will doubtless bring great challenges, but lower fertility rates could usher in a higher...

In many geographical regions, both in developing and in developed countries, the number of health workers is insufficient to achieve population health goals. Financial incentives for return of service are intended to alleviate health worker shortages: A (future) health worker enters into a...

In spite of recent large-scale efforts to roll out ART in developing countries, millions of people who need ART currently do not receive it. Without large increases in the number of health workers to treat HIV/AIDS (HAHW) in the next few years, most developing countries will be unable to achieve...

In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa health worker shortages are one of the main constraints in achieving population health goals. Financial-incentive programmes for return of service, whereby participants receive payments in return for a commitment to practice for a period of time in a...

Economic evaluations of health interventions, such as vaccinations, are important tools for informing health policy. Approaching the analysis from the appropriate perspective is critical to ensuring the validity of evaluation results for particular policy decisions. Using the example of...