This volume contains thirteen papers prepared for the World Bank Conference on Innovations in Health Care Financing, held in Washington, D.C., on March 10-11, 1997. Together these papers provide conceptual and practical policy prescriptions for financing health care systems in developing countries.

This cross-national study provides empirical evidence of some of the trends in health status, health services, and health care financing that have occurred in countries undergoing economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe. Evidence shows that the transition has led to a significant...

The appropriate role of the state in health is complex both in economic theory and in practice. Theory identifies three reasons for state action: public goods or services with large externalities (involving efficiency); poverty (involving equity); and failings peculiar to insurance markets for...

This paper surveys health reform in the former Soviet countries of Central Asia. Reform efforts are evaluated in the context of achieving the goals of improving people's health status, maintaining acces and equity, improving efficiency, increasing clinical effectiveness, and assuring quality and...

Describes the elements of health reform in Sierra Leone as the West African nation attempts to overhaul its health system and focus it on the neediest populations. To highlight the role of key stakeholders, the study reviews the actions proposed and taken for reforming a package of health...

The World Bank has become the world's largest lender in the health, nutrition, and population (HNP) sectors, requiring the institution to seek ever greater evidence that its work is effective on the ground. This paper reviews the literature on the causes of observed changes in health and...

The health of Russian women has suffered during the economic crisis of recent years. Morbidity and mortality from chronic and infectious diseases has increased. Women's reproductive health has been compromised by an increase in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and by lack of access...

This paper presents a situation analysis of small scale enterprises in Zimbabwe, examines the constraints faced by them, describes some of the changes that have taken place in the institutional and regulatory environment in recent years, under the structural adjustment program, and suggests an...