One of the key constraints to improving health outcomes in the developing world relates to equitable and efficient health financing. In most developing countries, a large portion of health expenditure is private and out-of-pocket (Gottret and Schieber 2006). This book represents a synthesis of...

The health workforce plays a key role in increasing access to health services for the poor in developing countries. Recent evidence has demonstrated an important link between staffing levels and both service delivery and health outcomes. Various global and country-level estimates have also shown...

This book looks primarily at Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) and tobacco use because they account for a disproportionate amount of the Non Communicable Disease (NCD) burden the focus is strategic rather than comprehensive. It considers both country and regional level approaches for tackling NCDs,...

South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all world regions. Such achievement implores the question, What made SAR stand out against what is predicted by standard socioeconomic outcomes?...

The paucity of qualified health workers in rural areas is a critical challenge for India's health sector. Although state governments have instituted several mechanisms, salary and non-salary, to attract health workers to rural areas, individually these mechanisms typically focus on single issues...

In Liberia, the maldistribution of health workers is particularly pronounced as 14 years of civil war exacerbated the concentration of experienced health workers in urban areas. The government has identified this challenge as a priority area for policy intervention. The objective of this study...

In this report the authors apply a very simple analytic method to measure workforce productivity in the health sector at the district level in Ghana. The authors then describe how the productivity analysis can be potentially used to inform staffing decisions. Specifically, in this paper the...

Front Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Executive Summary -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- The Analytical Framework: Drivers and Enablers for Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health Outcomes -- Research Methodology -- Organization of the...

South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all world regions. Such achievement implores the question, What made SAR stand out against what is predicted by standard socioeconomic outcomes?...