Illness is a major risk to people's livelihoods in resource-poor settings, particularly where there are rising levels of chronic illness. Measures that improve access to treatment are increasingly seen as a vital form of social protection for vulnerable households, and central to the achievement...

New public management (NPM) ideas have been reflected in the international health sector reform agenda. This paper summarizes the extent and depth of reform in the five countries studied, as reflected in four key policy arrangements, and reviews the various dimensions of capacity which have...

This review paper provides the background to research that will take place in four country case-studies to examine these issues. A key focus of this paper concerns government's capacity to fulfil the new roles expected of it. The paper selects four important new reform arrangements: autonomous...