The success of China in its transition has received a great deal of attention from economists. At the same time, public health experts have accumulated evidence on setbacks within the Chinese health sector, particularly in rural areas. This paper puts these two bodies of knowledge together. It...

Performance-based financing (PBF) approaches have expanded rapidly in lower-and middle income countries, and especially in Africa. The number of countries has grown from three in 2006 to 32 in 2013. PBF schemes are flourishing and cause considerable demand for technical assistance in executing...

Low-income countries face numerous challenges in the health sector. Resources currently dedicated to health services are insufficient and there is a need for an increase in the efforts from the North. Yet, a reflection on the way health systems are organised in the South is required as well. A...

Many low- and middle-income countries continue to search for better ways of financing their health systems. Common to many of these systems are problems of inadequate resource mobilisation, as well as inefficient and inequitable use of existing resources. The poor and other vulnerable groups who...

Objectives To understand how knowledge is used to inform policy on Health Equity Funds (HEFs) in Cambodia; and to draw lessons for translating knowledge into health policies that promote equity.Methods We used a knowledge translation framework to analyse the HEF policy process between 2000 and...

The world’s poorest pay for professional services and thus are in a “market,” whether the services are provided in the public or private sectors. The associated problems of unequal information are particularly acute in undergoverned countries, where state regulation is weak. We...

Improvements in rural health care in China in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were largely due to the development of cooperative medical schemes (CMSs) and the establishment of a three-tier rural health network. Since the economic reforms were instituted in the late 1970s, the financing and delivery...