There is increasing recognition that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are an important international and development issue globally, undermining health gains and imposing financial and economic costs on governments and households. NCDs are an important health challenge in the Pacific. First,...

China has made great progress in improving maternal and child health (MCH). It reduced maternal deaths from 1,500 per 100,000 live births and over 200 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1949 to 120 per 100,000 live births and infant deaths to 42 per 1,000 by 1990. Currently China is on track...

While universal health coverage (UHC) offers a powerful goal for a nation, all countries-irrespective of income are struggling with achieving or sustaining UHC. France is a high-income country where HC is in effect universal. Health-related costs are covered by a mix of mandatory social health...

A consensus exists that rising income levels and technological development are among the key drivers of total health spending. However, determinants of public sector health expenditure are less well understood. This study examines a complex relationship across government health expenditure...

This note analyzes levels and trends of health expenditures by country, income group, and region in the context of overall government revenue, expenditure, and GDP trends between 1995 and 2010. The study uses available data from the World Health Organization's (WHO) National Health Accounts, the...

Countries vary widely with respect to the share of government spending on health, a metric that can serve as a proxy for the extent to which health is prioritized by governments. World Health Organization (WHO) data estimate that, in 2011, health's share of aggregate government expenditure in...

This paper was developed for World Bank task team leaders (TTLs) and teams designing results-based financing (RBF) programs in family planning (FP). It explores the rationale for introducing such incentives based on insights from classical and behavioral economics, to respond to supply- and...