This publication, which is based on the unique methodology and tools developed for the World Bank Institute/Harvard School of Public Health Flagship Course on Health System Reform and Sustainable Financing, provides a powerful set of resources to help policy makers better navigate the...

Better information on the financing of the health sector is an essential basis for wise policy change in the area of health sector reform. Analysis of health care financing should begin with sound estimates of national health expenditure-total spending, the contributions to spending from...

Health service delivery programs using minimally-trained community-based health workers (CHWs) have been established in many developing countries in recent years. These programs are expected to improve the cost-effectiveness of health care systems by reaching large numbers of previously...

Developing countries are increasingly using economic evaluation methods to assess and plan their health services. Inappropriate application of these methods may lead to serious errors in developing primary health care strategies. In 'Selective Primary Health Care', Julia Walsh and Kenneth Warren...

Village health workers are often the main vehicle for promoting the primary health care approach in developing countries. Services provided by these workers are expected to be more appropriate to the health needs of populations than those of clinic-based services, to be less expensive and to...

China has recently unveiled an ambitious new health-care reform plan, entailing a doubling of government health spending as well as a number of concrete reforms. While the details of the plan have not yet been completely announced, we offer a preliminary assessment of how well the reform is...