Between 2000 and 2050, the share of the population aged 60 and over is projected to increase in every country in the world. Although labor force participation rates are projected to decline from 2000 to 2040 in most countries, due mainly to changes in their age distributions, labor force-...

The paper develops and estimates a structural model of household health production that jointly determines the demand for leisure and the demand for consumption for elderly males. The authors use a stochastic dynamic programming framework based on the assumption that an individual maximizes...

The demographic transition in the Sahel region has been slower than that in the rest of the world. Although child mortality rates have declined in recent decades, they are still higher in West Africa than in other regions. Furthermore, the fertility decline has progressed very slowly, with some...

The characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) - such as links to poverty, importance of patient actions, and prevalence of multisectoral drivers—require more from health systems than traditional medically oriented interventions. To combat TB successfully, health systems must also address social...

Many countries around the world are moving toward universal health coverage, while navigating through periods of economic crisis. The impact of the economic downturn of 2008-09 on the health care sector has renewed efforts to make health systems more resilient during and after economic...

The richness of the research papers in this volume makes it difficult to quickly capture the main themes and implications of their research. But three repeated themes can be highlighted: equality of public spending, the role of the private sector, and the role of consumers. On the theme of...

Health services can make an important contribution to improved health conditions among disadvantaged groups. Yet as the contents of this volume make clear, the health services supported by governments, and by agencies like ours too often fail to reach these people who need them most. This is not...

Recent attention to Millennium Development Goals by the international development community has led to the formation of targets to measure country-level achievements, including achievements on health status indicators such as childhood immunization. Using the example of immunization in India,...