Good health is necessary for well-being but also has another critical impact: it causes poverty, in that large health expenditures can bankrupt families. Many nations are now hoping that formally mandated social health insurance (SHI), involving payroll taxes, will provide a solution. This...

In 1987, the World Bank recommended that the principle of cost recovery be incorporated into an agenda for financing publicly provided health services in developing countries. Concern remains widespread, however, that the introduction of user fees in government operated facilities or costly...

This article reports on a vision of health improvement that challenges African countries and their external partners to rethink current health strategies. The report stresses positive experiences in sub-Saharan Africa and concludes that far greater progress in improving health is possible than...

This paper begins with a review of the broad motivations behind the New Public Sector Management (NPSM), including intrinsic differences between public and private organizations that appear to impact on incentives and performance. The experience in selected OECD countries is reviewed where the...