This thesis aims to undertake an economic analysis of private medical practice while stressing on elements, which in our view, remain unsaid or unrecognised. It is about an institutional analysis, based on the historic and social embedding of the health. After presenting the specificities of...

Population growth, an unfinished agenda of communicable diseases and maternal health and nutrition, and the rapid rise of Non-communicable diseases are putting increasing strain on not just the Ministry of Health budget, but also the broader financial position of the government as a whole. These...

This review represents an attempt to bridge the significant knowledge gaps on the private health sector in Sri Lanka, and foster a dialogue on opportunities for collaboration between the government and the private sector. It accomplishes this through a systematic collection and analysis of...

This study presents two case studies, each on a current initiative of contracting for primary health services in Brazil, one for the state of Bahia, the other for the city of Rio de Janeiro. The two initiatives are not linked and their implementation has independently sprung from a search for...

Indonesia launched the national health insurance program - Jaminan Kesehatan National (JKN), on January 1, 2014, and aims to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2019. Achieving UHC means not only increasing the number of people covered but also expanding the benefits package and ensuring...

Considerable progress has been made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since 1990. Although advances in improving MDG 4 and MDG 5a (reducing child and maternal mortality, respectively) have been made, progress is some countries have been insufficient. While some...

Recent Australian policy initiatives regarding primary health care focus on planning services around community needs and delivering these at the local area. As in many other countries, there has also been a growing concern over social inequities in health outcomes. The aims of the analysis...

About 20 years after initial calls for the introduction of user fees in health systems in sub-Saharan Africa, a growing coalition is advocating for their removal. Several African countries have abolished user fees for health care for some or all of their citizens. However, fee-for-service health...

The introduction of computers into general practice settings has profoundly changed the dynamics of the clinical consultation. Previous research exploring the impact of the computer (in what has been termed the ‘triadic’ consultation) has shown that computer use and communication between...

Rural people are deprived even of the basic facilities of medical care. Is this ethical? [6th K R Memorial lecture].