A system of systems is characterized by the properties of operational and managerial autonomy; belonging to a system collective; connectivity; diversity of operational characteristics, location, infrastructure and capability; and evolutionary development. It is also characterized by emergent...

Despite some relative improvements in the last fifteen years, the National Health Service remains an international laggard in terms of those health outcomes that can be attributed to the healthcare system. In international comparisons of health system performance, the NHS almost always ranks in...

Results-based aid (RBA) models link funds to outcomes, rather than paying for inputs. Despite their theoretical appeal and recent adoption by donors and multilateral development banks, there is limited empirical evidence supporting this form of aid for national governments. We estimate the...

Cancer is a leading global cause of death and disability responsible for approximately 7.6 million deaths each year. Around one third of cancers are attributable to a small number of preventable risk factors – including smoking and the harmful consumption of alcohol – for which effective...

Substitution policies are strategies sometimes chosen in Sub-Saharan Africa for curtailing the shortage of health professionals especially caused by the outflow of medical personnel. The aim of our contribution is to propose a way to assess the merits and drawbacks of substitution policies by...

The upward trend in the incidence of caesarean deliveries is a widespread stylised fact in many countries. Several studies have argued that it does not reflect, at least in part, patients' needs but that it is also influenced by other factors, such as providers/physicians incentives. Not...

The right to health has been repeatedly recognized as one of the core human rights, essential for human functioning, human dignity, economic well-being, and development. But the right to health continues to elude hundreds of millions and with Covid-19, perhaps billions of people. Poverty remains...

Health policy makers in developing, low income countries are often faced with difficult choices and tradeoffs in allocating the rather limited resources at their disposal. This paper analyzes the varied approaches taken by the Governments of China and India which resulted in differential levels...

Health care usually represents a so called merit good, i.e. a good whose consumption should be promoted and given that in most cases it might be essential to restore health or to stop its decay, most countries have implemented a public health care system where care is supplied to anybody needing...

Health inequalities represent perhaps the most consequential global health challenge and yet they persist despite increased funding and innovative programs. The United Nations is revising the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will shape the world for many years to come. What would a...