This paper examines alternative frameworks for empirical analysis of supply side activities, namely, the manufacture and distribution of medicine, through the application of New Institutional Economics (NIE) concepts. Attention is focused particularly upon the potential utility of ideas from...

How to finance and provide health care for the more than 1.3 billion rural poor and informal sector workers in low- and middle-income countries is one of the greatest challenges facing the international development community. This article presents the main findings from an extensive survey of...

Most community finance schemes have evolved in the context of severe economic constraints, political instability, and lack of good governance. Usually government taxation capacity is weak, formal mechanisms of social protection for vulnerable populations absent, and government oversight of the...

This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the performance of community-based health care financing in terms of (a) social inclusion and (b) financial protection. Five non-standardized household surveys were analyzed from India (two samples), Senegal, Rwanda, and Thailand. Common...

Heavy investment over the past 30 years has made the hospital sector the largest expenditure category of the health system in most developed and developing countries. Despite shifts in attention and emphasis toward primary care as a first point of contact for patients, in most countries,...

As the world recently turned its attention to the struggle of expanding health insurance coverage for 40 million people in the United States, it is important not to forget the 4 billion people in low- and middle-income countries that face the same hardship. Millions of the poor have already...

Private participation in health services is often a controversial issue, although many countries already make use of private services to further aims in health care. The book draws on a wide range of country experience to provide a judicious blend of practical advice and useful information on...

Including health issues at the top of the political agenda, is an indictor for national development. Breaking the vicious cycle of low resources leading to illness, and illness leading to poverty, is a problem that all policy makers face in poor countries. Access to decent and affordable health...

Public Ends, Private Means: Strategic purchasing of value for money in health services is part of a series of World Bank publications on ways to make public spending on health care more efficient and equitable in developing countries. It reviews the underlying economics in terms of agency...

With a special focus on strategic purchasing and contracting of services from nongovernmental providers, this title reviews ways to make public spending on health care more efficient and equitable in developing countries. It is recommended that: 1) experiments and pilot projects for improving...