The purpose of this study was to explore the role and importance of human resources for the scaling up of health services in low income countries. In the case studies, the following have been analyzed: (i) investigated the size, composition and structure of the current health work force; (ii)...

A key issue in the expansion of access to priority health services is how best to implement scaling up efforts. In this paper, we explore the relative merits of vertical and horizontal delivery modes; review the literature on the impact of vertical programmes on health systems and on experiences...

Health economics is increasingly recognized as a discipline that has much to offer developing countries in addressing these problems, but how can it help? What economic concepts and tools can be applied to the health sector? A wider understanding of the discipline is required if it is to support...

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...

Little attention has been paid to the question of how to finance the costs of scaling up MNCH care and the likely availability of funds. Methods Past health expenditure (2000 – 2005) was analysed through the National Health Accounts of 57 high priority countries. They projected likely...

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is increasingly important in public health decision making, including in low- and middle-income countries. The decision makers’ valuation of a unit of health gain, or ceiling ratio (λ), is important in CEA as the relative value against which acceptability is...

This article examines the existence of price discrimination for obstetric services in two private hospitals in Bangladesh, and considers the welfare consequences of such discrimination, i.e. whether or not price discrimination benefited the poorer users. Data on 1212 normal and caesarean section...

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...

When the Thai universal coverage (UC) scheme was established, the government decided to exclude renal replacement therapy (RRT) for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from the benefit package, though RRT was included in two other public health insurance schemes. Access to RRT for UC members...

The impact of market concentration has been little studied in markets for ambulatory care in the developing world, where the retail sector often accounts for a high proportion of treatments. This study begins to address this gap through an analysis of the consumer market for malaria treatment in...